Introverted
by Shadenight123
Summary: Being ignored and gazed at with hatred can lead someone to become a boisterous and loud orange-wearing shinobi, but it can also drive him to become a silent and invisible introvert. Of the two, Naruto takes the logical choice for a future in the Ninja World. Team Sai-Naruto-Sakura. No pairings. Future of bloodshed and grittiness assured.
1. Introversion

Introverted.

Summary: Being ignored and gazed at with hatred can lead someone to become a boisterous and loud orange-wearing shinobi, but it can also drive him to become a silent and invisible introvert. Of the two, Naruto takes the logical choice for a future in the Ninja World.

_Chapter One._

His back leaned against the wall of his one room apartment. The light sound of the water droplets falling from the faucet reached his ears that twitched slightly at the noise. He blearily opened his eyes, turning them to the calendar on the other side of the wall. From the window nearby, the sun dawning tinged the clear blue sky a nice rosy tint. The date was important; he had circled it with a bright red color for a reason.

Today was the day of the Genin Exams.

He stood up, wincing as the sprained ankle of the night before hurt him still. Now it was just sprained, while earlier it had been broken. It had been an accident. _Of course_, the construction crew hadn't seen him walking beneath them. He didn't know whether to feel elated they actually hadn't, or saddened that they might have lied. He had been doing his best to remain as quiet and invisible as possible, so maybe it had been his own fault. On the other hand, the workers should have been watching out for people below.

He had learned that bright colors were a no-no, but so too were the dark ones. In a village of shinobis, going around paraded in an all-black suit was idiotic. Soft colors worked best to not stand out. A soft beige color jacket, a light green shirt, and a pair of brown shorts. The only thing dark was his sandals' color, but nobody ever looked at another's feet while walking or talking, so he was safe.

To be seen was to be pointed at, whispered from behind, to be ignored when you had a question to ask. So he instead decided to be the one to ignore the others. He wasn't the smartest tool of the shed, but he knew when he wasn't wanted, and he had done just that: he had hidden himself away. Instead of screaming to the wind for the people to recognize him, he had hidden so that the people could forget about him.

The number of murmurs and whispers had exponentially decreased after that. Just like the calls for 'Demon' or similar. No longer pranking, no longer yelling, and soon he was left alone. He should have known: he was just worsening his own situation by acting like a fool…but thankfully it was now fixed.

He didn't eat breakfast; his fridge was half-empty and his stomach queasy to begin with. Quietly, he made his way through the back alleys and the dark streets that riddled the city of Konoha, moving towards the academy. It was quite a longer route than merely running through the main street, but it also kept him away from the crowd and the glares.

He hated the glares.

He didn't know _when_ he had realized that people didn't look at him with a kind gaze, but once he had, he had realized a terrible truth: everyone, except maybe the old man, always glared when looking at him. The shinobi at least held a sort of indifferent mask on their features, but the civilians hated him. He would have given the world for a reason; at least he could have changed his ways earlier.

He finally reached the shinobi academy after a few minutes, the building standing silently as the early morning hour made it deserted. He walked through the still empty corridors, his face softening as he remembered the times spent outside of the classroom...times he no longer had to serve after stopping with his pranks. It was nice and cool within the stone building, even with the warmth of the summer sun. A light breeze stretched from the open windows. He could hear the soft murmurs of the staff a few rooms above, and the chirping of the birds amongst the trees.

He entered the classroom and reached for his desk, in the last row but far from the window. He sat down, and bringing both of his arms crossed in front of him, he lowered his head and waited for the bell to ring.

Soon he heard the clattering of feet, and the door swung open gently but firmly once more. Sasuke Uchiha walked in, stilling as he stared at him with his own eyes. The raven haired boy, wearing his usual blue jacket with the Uchiha fan, analyzed him for a second, before nodding. Naruto nodded back, before watching the Uchiha take his own seat halfway in the classroom, near the window. The relationship between them was strange, to say the least.

There was a sort of begrudging respect, only neither of the two actually held a grudge against the other. They just were both people who didn't like to talk to others. One because he probably would just be yelled at to keep quiet, the other because people would fawn over him in an instant.

The door opened once more, as Hinata Hyuga entered third. The girl looked with her pale white eyes at both of them, before shyly and silently making her way to the last row near the window. She began to twiddle her fingers, moving back and forth her indexes as she gave hesitant glances towards him.

He didn't bother to ask why. He didn't know when the girl had started looking at him, but he couldn't bring himself to talk to her. He could ruin everything he had become: it wouldn't do to once more be subjected to the glares of the people of Konoha...not now that he had finally learned how to avoid most of them.

The noises now grew in intensity. People began to flock in, the chatter in the room increasing until it became unbearable for him. Shikamaru Nara plopped down next to him, with Chouji following and munching on chips. The boisterous Kiba sat next to Shino and Hinata, while the pink-haired Sakura was trying to woo Sasuke with Ino fighting her every step of the way.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru mumbled, his dark eyes flicking from him to the sensei's desk.

"Munch…Munch…Why?" Chouji asked; a packet of chips opened in his hands. _The slightly overweight_ boy was some sort of sidekick of the Nara, and Naruto felt slightly envious that the boring and lazy boy actually had such a friend.

He didn't have one, so of course he had to feel envy for someone who, in doing nothing, actually got a friend.

"They'll split us in teams," Shikamaru remarked. "The Ino-Shika-Cho formation is one team, for example." The Nara explained to the surprised Akimichi, who merely nodded thoughtfully.

"Then there's the Dead Last placed in the team of the Rookie of the Year and the second best of the class." The shadow user continued, "And if we take that into account, then it's obvious we'll end up with Ino."

Chouji frowned slightly. "Can't we have Hinata?"

"That wouldn't work," Shikamaru pointed out. "If Hinata was with us, in place of Ino, we would have no long-range tactics. You still need to deploy melee after all." The spiky haired Nara sighed, "Troublesome."

Naruto listened in silence. He had been the Dead Last of the academy for a while, but since that… _event_ he no longer held the place. He didn't know if the nominee to Dead Last worked on the average of all years or only of the last year. If it did base itself on the cumulative ratings for all years, even if he suddenly became Rookie of the Year in terms of placements, he would still be the last. As it was, he was comfortably standing in the slightly lower than average result.

He had crammed up for the exam, expecting something written or a display of Taijutsu or Shuriken-jutsu, but as the time passed nervousness began to take its toil of him, since the sensei had yet to arrive.

He was already profusely sweating by the time one of the teachers entered the classroom.

"Silence!" Iruka-sensei exclaimed. The man had a scar on his face, and his dark brown hair was held in a short pony-tail on the back. He wore the Chuunin flak jacket, and was holding with his hands a scroll, probably containing the names of the students. "Come when called in room One-A, and we will administer the test."

As the name call proceeded, he began to tremble. What if he wasn't good enough to pass? He had trained hard for this, he wanted to pass —no, he _needed_ to pass! His dingy apartment was starting to break apart, and unless he actually earned the money to repair it, he would end up evicted while the owner of the complex made the repairs. Considering his luck, he would end up homeless for weeks.

"Uzumaki, Naruto." His name called, he stood up fast, hitting his sides with the corner of the table and wincing in pain. He held the tears in his eyes as he quickly walked downwards, and from there to room One-A.

Iruka merely nodded at him stiffly, ticking his name off the scroll. He walked through the hallway to the adjacent room, where only Mizuki-sensei stood in wait, sitting with his back against the wall of the empty classroom. On a desk nearby, the various headbands with the symbol of the leaf glinted because of the light of the sun that peered through the window.

"Oh, Naruto-kun," the man began with a light smile. "Third time's the charm, they say."

"Yeah." He replied. His voice was raucous as the word came out. How many days had it been since he had last talked to someone?

_He didn't remember_.

"Well, can you do a henge of the Hokage?" Mizuki asked kindly. He nodded and smiled. His fingers went into the correct position, and concentrating on the chakra within his lower stomach, he pulled at it. There was a small puff of smoke, and the next instant Naruto Uzumaki was gone, replaced by Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third Hokage.

"Good!" The teacher praised him, "Now can you do a Bunshin?"

He froze slightly, gulping down nervously before releasing the Henge. He could do this. He had practiced. He had repeatedly tried with increasing frustration until the point of exhaustion, and he could do this. He knew he could.

He slowly began to pull at his chakra again. Far more slowly than how he did for the Henge. He imagined himself tearing a small, really small piece of parchment from an enormous scroll that was his chakra pool. There was no puff of smoke, but two sickly and pale Naruto-Bunshins appeared near him, both face down on the ground and both seemingly dead.

Mizuki's face was ecstatic. The Chuunin-sensei walked towards the headbands and handed one over to him, smiling brightly. "Congratulation Naruto! You did it!"

He smiled back with hesitation, before grasping the headband and tightly knotting it around his forehead. He was a shinobi now. He was a protector of Konoha. He felt his heart bursting from his chest, his desire to scream reach the base of his throat…and then he held it there. He wasn't going to scream. He wasn't going to yell how happy he was for this. He just _couldn't_.

"As a shinobi of the leaf, you are hereby declared legally an adult." Mizuki began, signing a scroll on the desk. "You also have access to the library of Konoha, but only to the Genin related sections. You are also eligible to receive standard shinobi equipment from the Ninja Office, as well as having an account open in the Konoha Shinobi Bank from this moment henceforth." The man scribbled something on a piece of paper. "As an orphan, you have no guardian and thus it falls entirely to you to open up an account or simply receive checks for mission payment."

Mizuki finished speaking, handing over to him a small scroll. "This is a storage scroll. It contains your ninja number, the information needed to activate your bank account and the shinobi rules. You are to memorize everything."

Naruto nodded back, displaying for once a cranked up smile. He then turned around and left quietly. Maybe he'd go to Ichiraku to celebrate. It would be sort of a splurge of his meager finances, but it would be good to eat something warm for once.

He left through the main door of the school and stilled for a moment. That was a big no-no. He had forgotten: the parents would be there to congratulate their own children. He tensed and then awkwardly began to walk stiffly towards the exit. He didn't look at the other children. He didn't look at his ex-classmates. He didn't look at their parents.

He just walked quietly, and slowly managed to leave without attracting attention. There had been no whispers or murmurs towards him. No heated glares or pointed fingers. Maybe…maybe he was safe now that he was a shinobi?

"That boy passed?" a voice reached his ears, and suddenly he knew he had been wrong.

"Really —what are they thinking, passing a demon like him?" another voice added. "They should have failed him."

He dashed for the dirty alleyways the next second, running with his heart pumping in his chest until he reached his apartment. He was a shinobi now, he shouldn't be afraid of the murmurs and the glares, but he just couldn't stand them. He had wanted to scream at the voices to shut up and leave, but he merely hadn't been able to. He wasn't a coward. He was sure he could fight them off if he wanted to…but why should he?

Yelling out loud just got people killed: it didn't save them.

Why couldn't they look at someone else? What did he have that made him different? What was the reason they all called him a demon?

The idea of going to Ichiraku was discarded with his dropping mood. The moment he slipped inside his house, he closed the door behind him and then silently started to clean. There was little else he could do. He had a deck of cards, but after months of solitaire it became an absolute hell to even look at it. He just hoped his teammates would be decent people.

He just hoped they would be his first friends.

It took him a while to get used to it, but eventually he had found things to do when alone. Instead of screaming and running around the village, he would silently make rounds on the roof of the building. Instead of playing with other children, he would look at the running shinobi that dashed on the rooftops, trying to catch them with his eyes as they moved. A few of them actually waved at him as they went, somehow without even turning their gaze to look at him or slowing down.

The rooftop of the apartment complex was the place where he had the most social encounters to begin with. He decided there and then, while pondering on what to do to pass the time: he'd do a bit of light training, and then the next morning, as early as humanly possible, he would go and do everything Mizuki-sensei had told him to do.

In that way he wouldn't be seen by many people.

Unknown to the young Naruto Uzumaki —recently made Genin of Konohagakure no Sato— Hiruzen Sarutobi was silently watching him through the crystal glass in his office. The old third Hokage was biting nervously on his pipe, puffing out small clouds of smoke as he saw the dejected face of Naruto turn to one with a light smile.

He couldn't help but cringe, as he felt his heart constrict a little. Once the blond boy had been vivacious, like a boisterous grandchild. Something had happened one day, something the boy had never told him, and the next day he had been different. He had been subdued, silent, and melancholic to say the least. He now rarely smiled. He rarely yelled or talked to someone else. He had used the crystal ball to actually see how he would fare in his exam, even though once he was sure Naruto would have been the first to run up to him and show his forehead protector with pride.

He sighed. He wouldn't have let Naruto pass, and had Iruka been there, the Chuunin-sensei wouldn't have either. Mizuki had probably acted out of his good heart for a fellow orphan, and he couldn't actually fault such an act. If Naruto was unprepared he would simply be failed by his Jounin instructor, and that would be that.

He looked at the paperwork on his desk, neatly piled up. He could use a Kage Bunshin and be done with it, but something required his personal touch beforehand: he needed to decide the teams.

He couldn't, in good conscience, place Naruto together with Sasuke, who had passed with top marks. The boy would make his teammates fail, and he shuddered at what Homura, Koharu and Danzo would say if the last of the Uchiha ended up having to repeat the year. Unfortunately, placing Naruto in that team would mean passing him by force.

He couldn't bring himself to send Naruto outside without a workable Bunshin.

He couldn't even put the boy in the same team as a Clan Children: it would simply make the selected clans angry. His only choice was to split up the teams in a different way.

Naruto could go with Sakura Haruno, a civilian who had no backing whatsoever and with the pitiful marks she held on the physical evaluations, a possible fail candidate. He needed a third shinobi however.

Someone who nobody would make a ruckus for if he failed. He was thinking about it, and was already starting to believe that maybe he could put another female —there was a certain Ami in the list— when the door of his office opened to admit Danzo.

The old teammate of his walked in slowly, half of his body covered in bandages and holding up with sheer willpower and a wooden walking stick.

"Hiruzen," the war hawk greeted him with his name, "I have heard interesting news."

"Oh? Pray tell," Hiruzen took another puff of tobacco, before slowly standing up from behind his desk and making his way to the window. He wouldn't admit it, but being in the same room with Danzo always made him think that one day, the man would come in with a kunai in hand, scream 'banzai' and attack him. He slightly chuckled at the mental image, but cleared his features the moment Danzo walked to stand next to him.

"The Jinchuuriki has passed his examination." The cane tapped lightly on the ground, "pitiful display, nearly dead last, and not worthy of being called a weapon for Konoha."

"I know." Hiruzen replied with a dull tone. The third Hokage shook his head slightly. "He did better than the last time, but—"

"I could train him." Danzo remarked. "I could make him better."

"A better weapon, perhaps, but a better man?"

Danzo's face morphed into a scowl.

"He is a Jinchuuriki, a human sacrifice: his place is as a weapon."

"You forget, Danzo, our teacher's words." Hiruzen lightly replied, still shaking his head. "And as long as you'll forget them, I'm afraid I won't be inclined in handing Naruto over to your…personal training facility."

The Yami of shinobi merely stilled for a second, before releasing a breath he didn't believe he had held. "You need a third shinobi, do you not?"

"Now that you know that I know of Ne, you offer one of your own?" Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. "I asked you to disband that group, Danzo. It is inhuman."

"Inhuman, but not ineffective." He retorted calmly. "How about a deal, Hiruzen? I too have a —sort of—defective product."

The third Hokage frowned, but said nothing waiting for Danzo to explain himself.

"You are building a team that is meant to fail, I know because I would do the same in your position."

"Not out of kindheartedness however." Hiruzen snorted. He knew the man would rather avoid Konoha's 'weapon' from dying outside, rather than actually care for the boy.

"Does it matter the mean to the end?" Danzo lightly rebuffed him, before continuing. "I will place my defective shinobi with yours. Then we will see the results of your academy training compared to my Root training, and we will do so by taking into account the lowest possible grades available."

"And if they pass because of your shinobi?"

"Then it means the Jinchuuriki will at least be protected by a slightly better than average Genin." Danzo didn't miss a beat as he answered back. The third Hokage remained thoughtful, but said nothing for a while. The silence stretched to the point where Danzo was just about starting to lose his patience, his index finger twitching lightly as it tapped against the cane.

"Why not," Hiruzen nodded to himself. "But if something happens to Naruto because of your operative, Danzo…you don't want to see me angry."

The third Hokage smiled then, and Danzo grinned back.

"Of course, Hokage-sama."

As Danzo left, Hiruzen returned to his desk. The team for Naruto was ready now: Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno and the failed operative of Danzo would work together. Now he needed a sensei and a replacement. The other civilian girl, Ami, would go with the Uchiha. Since another male was needed, he grabbed Kiba Inuzuka to place in the roster.

The Ino-Shika-Cho formation was complete, but now the problem was with Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuga. He needed yet one more shinobi to complete their ranks. His eyes fell down on the students who had shinobi as parents. A certain Hibachi appeared to have a father in the Konoha's ninja department: it was enough.

He knew he was probably condemning to early death students who would not have normally passed the exams, but he had to prevent Naruto both from being heartbroken once more, as he certainly would if he were to go and annul his forehead protector, and from dying if he actually went out of the village with the skills he had.

No, he was not sorry: he was doing what was best for _everyone's_ interests, except maybe Ami's and Hibachi's.

With a tired sigh, the old man closed his eyes and began to snore lightly, folding his arms over his chest in the particular signature jutsu of the Kage Bunshin. As his clone began to work, muttering under his breath about 'damnable old coots', the original one chuckled.

The day of the team selection, Iruka Umino glanced at the roster with a perplexed expression. His eyes travelled to the students, all nervously awaiting their teammates' names.

"Team seven will be composed by Sasuke Uchiha, Ami Satou and Kiba Inuzuka, your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake." He saw the civilian girl in the back rows fist-pump in the air, before sneering at the other girls who had lost. The two girls closest to Sasuke, Haruno and Yamanaka, both looked defeated with their faces downwards. The Inuzuka merely snorted and strongly whined about being in the same team as Sasuke.

"Team eight will be composed by Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga and Hibachi Saitou, your sensei will be Kurenai Yuuhi." The Aburame and the Hyuga both looked at one another, gently bowing in a sign of respect. The civilian boy on the other hand seemed affronted, but because of what Iruka had no idea.

"Team nine is still in effect from last year. Team ten will be Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Chouji Akimichi, your sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi." He proceeded to list the remaining teams, until he finally reached the last one.

"Team Thirteen will be Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno and Sai Satou. Your sensei will be Aoba Yamashiro. All students: please wait in the classroom for your Jounin-sensei to collect you." Iruka then stiffly made his way out from behind the desk and headed for the door. He stopped midway however, and turned to address the classroom one last time.

"From this moment hence, you are all shinobi of the leaf. You will live, bleed and die for your village. You are no longer children, but adults. Remember this."

Then Iruka walked outside, leaving behind puzzled and perplexed children. The teachers began to stroll in, and as they did Naruto turned his gaze towards the pink haired girl. Sakura had been one of his early crushes and one of his early friends…but she too had begun to glare and stare at him eventually, just like the other children, and then she had begun making fun of him. He had been left alone once more, and the girl had moved to become friends with Ino first, and then a rival to her for Sasuke's affection.

He had been forgotten afterwards.

He turned his gaze around the classroom, trying to connect the name Sai to a face. He didn't remember anyone called Sai in the class, but then again he hadn't bothered to memorize the names of all the students. The girl had apparently decided to stand, turning her gaze around until she met his eyes. She gave him a tentative wave, and he perplexedly gave a nod back.

Seemingly happy with that, the girl began bickering with Ami who apparently wanted the spot near 'Sasuke-kun'. The boisterous Kiba was instead loudly whining of his teammates, walking downwards and jumping on the desk of the last of the Uchiha.

The funny thing was that Sasuke was sort of glancing towards him, with a look that betrayed the 'love' he had for the team he ended up in. He merely gave him an awry grin and a shrug of the shoulders, and the Uchiha nodded back gruffly.

"Hello dickless." Naruto blinked. He turned his gaze to the side, where a pale skinned and raven haired boy stood with a plastered smile. The boy was holding a Tanto on the back, and seemed to be holding far better shinobi equipment than him, but what truly puzzled Naruto was the fact that the boy was holding an ink brush and an empty scroll in front of him.

"Hello?" He replied.

The dark haired boy said nothing more, albeit he did keep on his plastered smile. Naruto frowned, but remained silent too. A few seconds later, Sakura joined them.

"Hello! I'm Sakura!" She smiled, "I never saw you in class before." She added, turning her emerald gaze to Sai.

"I was privately trained, ugly." Sai replied calmly, smiling as Sakura's fist collided with his face and sent him reeling against the wall.

"How rude! Shannaro!" She screamed, huffing as she locked her eyes in fury with the raven haired boy. Naruto instead merely stood up and moved slowly backwards, wanting to avoid taking part in his teammates' ordeals. It wasn't actually his business. Sure, they were teammates, and he had hoped to make friends out of them, but he knew he shouldn't have been so hopeful.

As long as one had hope, it could be crushed.

One called him dickless and the other was an enraged fan-girl who had broken his childhood trust. He doubted they would —or even could— work together as a team, no matter what. His eyes trailed downwards, looking as the Jounin-senseis came to get their students. Five minutes had passed since he was standing against the wall, when Sasuke joined him with a staggered and bewildered expression.

Naruto could see both Kiba and Ami animatedly talking to one another, with endearing terms like 'bitch' and 'uncouth mongrel' flying.

"Uzumaki." Sasuke began, somehow curt and yet showing an undertone of something else Naruto couldn't place. He would have called it 'despair for an intelligent conversation', had said undertone a name. He raised an eyebrow at being called, but answered back.

"Uchiha?"

"I—"

"Team Thirteen!" A Jounin spoke loudly from the doorway, and Naruto tensed as he looked to the sun-glass wearing man and then back to Sasuke.

"See you later?" Naruto hazarded, and was somehow surprised when Sasuke actually _nodded_ to him. Shocked, he kept on walking down the stairs of the classroom, reaching for his teacher as Sakura and Sai soon joined him.

Their sensei seemed young, with dark, spiky hair. He had red-framed sunglasses on his face, which obscured his eyes. He wore the standard Konoha shinobi outfit complete with flak jacket and forehead protector, the latter of which was worn slightly tilted to the left. The man nodded at the three of them, before cracking a smile.

"Well then! Let's get going, shall we?" His tone was jovial, and as they began to walk out of the academy the sensei kept on speaking. "I remember when I was at the academy! I was one of the best students in the class, would have been rookie of the year but Hatake was way better." As the man kept on talking, Naruto found himself slipping into a comfortable position. He hadn't even realized he had been tense just a few minutes prior.

The sensei didn't seem that bad. He just wondered what he would learn from him.

"Now, I'm sorry to say but I personally don't believe in luck. I mean, we're number thirteen but that doesn't mean we have to be unlucky, right? Even though no team thirteen ever passed their exams before, this doesn't change everything."

"Excuse me, sensei," Sakura frowned as she caught on something strange their teacher had said. "What do you mean with 'no team thirteen passed their exams'? We already did, didn't we?"

"Ah no," Aoba remarked. "You are now shinobi. You aren't yet fully fledged Genins: if you fail, you are sent back to the academy and are retrained for the following year."

"What!?" Sakura screeched, making him wince from the voice the girl had. "But…But then Sasuke-kun would already be…and I wouldn't be able to…no! We have to pass!" She tightened her fist in mid-air, her eyes blaring with determination.

"I concur with ugly." Sai remarked, only to receive a fist to the side of the face. Naruto…

Naruto said nothing.

He sighed as he felt the typical feeling of nervousness start to crawl up his skin: this wasn't good. He wanted to pass, no, he had to pass. He didn't know if he would lucky enough the next year to still have Mizuki giving him the examination. If it was someone else, then maybe they might ask something he didn't know and fail him. He couldn't fail two years in a row.

He just couldn't survive two more years like this, in his own personal hell.

He had to pass.

He would pass…and then he would _leave_.

His eyes brightened with determination, as he stared at the back of his Jounin sensei's head: maybe if he stared hard enough, he might see what the exam would be like?

Their walk ended near the sides of the Konoha library, to where the Konoha's Torture and Interrogation department began hidden between camouflaged rocks. Aoba merely walked through them, and after a moment of hesitation came back outside, gesturing for them to follow him.

Naruto nervously gulped down, before following behind Sakura and Sai. The girl seemed to start worrying, while instead the raven haired boy wasn't. Sai seemed to be made out of rock, for all the emotions he displayed. He didn't even seem to care that they were entering the bowels of the mountain, or that they were going in the Torture and Interrogation department of Konoha, where people were _tortured_.

Naruto shuddered as they walked along a pristine white corridor, a scream of pain piercing the air and making Sakura jump backwards in a slight display of fright. He was frightened too: only he froze rather than jump.

"Anko must be at it," their Jounin-sensei remarked, taking a turn to the right. The scream of pain soon morphed into a set of pitiful sobs, as choked words became more and more distinguishable as they walked closer to its source. Sakura had subtly started to distance herself from their sensei, instead choosing to be between himself and Sai.

Sai said nothing and didn't even appear fazed by the screams of pain or the wails of the broken down shinobis. They finally reached the end of the corridor, where a crossroad seemed to be splitting into three different roads within the complex, and one of them ended in an onyx black door, that seemed to be standing slightly ajar.

"Now wait here while I prepare the exam." Aoba remarked. "Do not, under any circumstance, follow me inside. There are important and vital documents around and you do not have the clearance to look at them: the penalty is _death_ for breeching state secrecy. I'm sure you don't want to end your career this early, right?" As the Jounin jokingly spoke, Naruto slowly shook his head in a nod.

Sakura seemed queasy, but quickly nodded too. Sai didn't even move his head.

The next moment, they were alone in the corridor.

"Do you think it will be hard?" Sakura asked, looking worried at him and Sai. The black haired Genin didn't reply. He uncomfortably stared at the wall near them, hoping the girl wouldn't try and talk to him again.

"I asked a question, you know," she spoke once more. "You could answer, jerks."

"We were told to wait here, ugly," Sai said. "There is no need to speak."

He actually approved of what Sai was saying. They heard the noise of footsteps coming closer from another corridor, and as they all turned to look, a purple haired kunoichi —clad in a most revealing fishnet shirt and long trench coat— came into view. The woman was wearing a really short skirt, and seemed to be holding a stick within her mouth, albeit she was displaying a worried face.

"What are you three doing over here!? This isn't a place for academy students!"

"We…We're waiting for Aoba-sensei." Sakura spoke out, "We're to take the test to become Genins..."

The Kunoichi smiled wickedly, before sultrily speaking. "Oh…fresh blood." She licked her lips, "Do you guys want a hint?"

"Really?" Sakura's eyes widened as the pink haired girl smiled. Naruto merely scoffed. People who smiled like that weren't to be trusted.

"Oh yes! His tests are always the same multiple choices: Aoba has no imagination, you see? So the correct answer to all of the questions is always the last one. Now excuse me, but I have an escaped prisoner to catch." With those words, the woman —clearly mad— left quickly.

"Oh." Sakura sighed, "Only that?" She muttered. The girl then returned to stare at the door that was still slightly ajar. She bit her lip as if torn between looking and not looking, and as she hesitantly took a step forward, the hand of Sai clamped down on her shoulder, making her jump in fright.

"Where are you going, ugly?"

A nervous tick mark appeared on Sakura's forehead, as the pink haired girl gritted her teeth.

"We could take a small peek." She whispered in a low enough voice to hopefully pass unheard. "Just to know how long it will take: mom is expecting me for dinner after all."

"No." Sai remarked. "We wait here. Treachery to a superior officer is punishable by imprisonment or death."

"But aren't you curious about it?" Sakura asked back.

"No."

"Not even a little bit?"

"No."

"A tiny bit?"

"No."

As the two kept on discussing, Naruto tuned them out. There was an escaped prisoner going around, if what the purple haired kunoichi had said was true. Still she had acted a bit too calmly for someone looking for an escaped convict. Shouldn't she have brought them outside to safety?

He turned to look at the slightly ajar door. What if the escaped convict was within the room?

"We can call sensei without looking through the crack then!" Sakura exclaimed.

"That is acceptable." Sai nodded. Naruto merely remained unperturbed as the two moved forward.

"Sensei?" Sakura asked cautiously, her voice rising just a bit. "Are you still there?"

"Yes I am! Don't come in!" The moment their sensei spoke, Sakura added.

"Will it take long?"

"Not much, you should take care to remember my words! Stop wasting my time! Disturb me again and you will fail!"

Sakura flinched at the harsh words, but then sulkily turned her back on the door and marched towards the 'crossroad' of corridors. "Fine!" The girl huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'll wait here then."

Sai said nothing, instead taking out the white scroll of his and starting to draw on it. Naruto brought up an eyebrow at the sight, quietly watching the dark haired boy drawing.

The silence stretched through the trio for uncomfortably long minutes.

The minutes turned into hours, at least to their senses.

"What are you drawing?" Naruto finally blurted out, looking at Sai who seemed surprised to hear him speak.

"A…a scenery, dickless." The boy answered. Naruto ignored the 'dickless' word, and moved closer to look. There, drawn in ink, was a sight of the Konoha's mountain monument, with the faces of the four Hokage and even complying with the sketched entrance to the T&I department.

"You like to draw?" Naruto queried.

"Yes," Sai said, frowning. "I enjoy it, but it is distasteful for a shinobi to enjoy such things."

"Oh." Naruto muttered, with his back leaning against the wall.

"Is he going to take much longer?" Sakura muttered, making Naruto tense since he hadn't heard her move closer to them. "I need to go and…freshen myself up."

"We cannot ask him, or he will fail us." Sai commented. "I though you understood that, ugly."

The nervous tick mark on Sakura's forehead reappeared, but was soon squashed down by the girl holding on to her stomach with a slightly worried look.

"I really need the…freshening." She whimpered.

"If we exclude the corridor we walked in from," Naruto spoke then, "It leaves us with two other corridors to explore." He added, pointing to the one where the Kunoichi had come from and the other one perpendicular to it. "One might hold the torture cells," he dryly remarked, "but the other is an unknown."

"I can have them checked, dickless." Sai remarked then, grabbing a clean parchment and slowly drawing small images of mice. A hand sign later, and the mice actually emerged from the scroll and scampered down on the floor. The ink animals began to run across the empty corridors, not making any sound as they went.

"That's…That's pretty cool." Sakura muttered in awe, before her face suddenly morphed into one of worry and grief. The girl then shook her head and returned to her most 'I am definitively not worried about an exam' face. Naruto knew what the girl was thinking, instead. He knew because he was thinking the same thing too: what if he was the unprepared one?

He had been happy in passing the exam, but what skills did he have? He had nothing. He had an unworkable Bunshin. A pitiful Taijutsu stance and few props in hitting things with shurikens. The only thing he was good at was with his stamina, and only recently on theoretical practice. He didn't even want to know what the exam was, and it had been hours since they had last seen their sensei.

Finally, the mice came back, and Sai directed Sakura to where the toilets were. The girl seemed relieved and really 'freshened' up the moment she came back, but the waiting game kept being played.

In the end, the three of them stood with their backs against the wall, waiting and sighing heavily as their eyes began to feel droopy.

"What time is it?" Sakura blearily asked.

"I don't know." Naruto replied.

"My parents are going to be worried."

"uh-uh." The blond haired boy said nothing, albeit hearing that didn't make him feel well at all. It was as if the girl enjoyed twisting the rusty kunai in his wounds.

"You know, they always told me to stay away from you because you were a bad kid." Sakura commented. "You don't look bad though."

He snorted, but said nothing again.

"He's dickless: he can't be bad if he doesn't have a dick." Sai piped in from his side.

Strangely, those words actually made Naruto crack a small smile. "So you're bad then, Sai? You have a dick right?"

"We are not measuring dicks, dickless." Sai remarked, keeping his smile on.

"Immature, both of you. In front of a lady—" Sakura had barely begun talking, that the door cracked open to reveal a puzzled Aoba.

"Well…" The three of them stood up, eagerly waiting for the exam to start.

"You fail."

And with that, their dreams were crushed in the most brutal manner possible.

**Author's notes**

**And we begin with the serious Naruto Fanfic. 'Introverted'. **

**We all know Naruto as loud and boisterous. We know him from various fanfics as becoming 'smarter' and more intelligent, or more powerful, or ultra-bloodline filled, or…whatever. In this circumstance, a simple 'event' brought him from being orange-clad and screaming to being dimly dressed and introverted. Not 'intelligent' but 'introverted' rather than asking out loud, opening doors and charging in, merely asking and answering himself and trying to find a more 'sedate' approach to matters of the shinobi world.**

**There is no 'citizen kill Konoha demon' stuff, or anything 'much' derailed from canon.**

**Thirteen is an unlucky number in Western civilization, but it also moved to Japan (Japan has number 4 and 9, which actually shows why 'Team nine' isn't presented at manga-start)**

**I left you with a cliff-hanger…silly me, I forget people love cliff-hangers.**

**If you can guess why they failed before the next chapter, you win a cookie.**

**The writing will be 'slow' and cool. Naruto WILL NOT BECOME POWERFUL OVERNIGHT. Get that out of your system NOW. I will not repeat myself. I am of the firm belief that 'nothing suffered, nothing gained' So unless you can stand…eight? 9? Maybe even ten chapters of a 'struggling' Naruto and co, avoid reading. I mean struggling. I mean broken bones, torn limbs, blood and deaths. I mean seeing missions being FAILED and not just the 'oh well, Naruto-kun, you farted on the beetle' version.**

…**that's pretty much all there is.**


	2. Finding One's Weakness

Introverted

_Chapter Two._

"You fail."

With those two words, the world fell on Naruto's shoulders. Sakura was misty-eyed, her shoulders trembling as she brought her hands up to cover her mouth. Sai said nothing, merely looking with his emotionless face to their Jounin-sensei.

"Why?" Sakura choked out.

Aoba raised an eyebrow, before gesturing with his right hand in a wide arc. "You failed at _everything_." The Jounin took a deep breath, and then added. "You were told there was an escaped convict. Yet you did not feel the need to tell me, did you?"

Naruto breathed in slowly: the man was right. They had been told of an escaped prisoner, and hadn't even tried to warn their sensei about him, for fear of being disqualified from the exam.

"Furthermore, you left your teammate to go alone into unknown territory, with the possible presence of hostiles." Aoba added then, "While you did scout ahead and you did display a slight understanding of the complex' map, you failed to take into account the hostile presence. You also failed to maintain a status of readiness in case of attack. Had there really been a hostile shinobi, and had he found you, he would have clearly managed to take one of you hostage."

Naruto began to grind his teeth, as the words of the man rung true in his ears.

"What happens now?" Sakura asked, tears streaking down her eyes.

"Now you'll be sent back to the academy, to repeat your year." Aoba remarked, "Or you may drop out of the program completely."

"No!" Sakura exclaimed, "I'm not dropping out! I'll do better next time!"

"Shut up, ugly," Sai commented.

As Sakura brought both of her hands to cover her face and Sai emotionlessly stared at her crying, Naruto just looked with a sad gaze at the girl. He didn't even feel the need to yell or rant. He just dropped his shoulders slightly, and sighed. His eyes stung slightly, from the failure and the embarrassment, but he did not speak.

It wouldn't have changed anything.

"There is another way however." Aoba remarked, "You may try the Konoha Boot Camp."

"Uh?" Sakura's teary emerald eyes came up, as she looked in surprise at their sensei. Naruto frowned: he had never heard of that before. Sai said and did nothing.

"It is a highly intensive coursework, designed to get the failed shinobis to become productive as fast as possible. It basically sends you to the Genin Corps and by the time it is over you will become sensei-less Genins. It is a three month course, but it's not pretty at all." The Jounin remarked. "There are training casualties every year."

"We'll do it," Sakura said, her eyes now shining with determination. Naruto tensed slightly, before turning his gaze to Aoba who merely looked back at him. There was a slight frown on his mouth, the same that usually came when an adult looked at him and was about to say something scathing.

"I'll take it too," he suddenly added.

"If dickless takes it, then so will I." Sai commented.

"Very well," the Jounin said. "Pack lightly and find yourself, tomorrow at seven o'clock, in front of Konoha's gates. I will sign you in. Now let's get you out of here."

With those words, Aoba began to walk out. He did not try to joke on the situation, or make up some sort of hopeful term. It was silence —only silence— that followed them like a blanket as they left. Naruto walked outside, looking at the sky now colored red and orange for the dying sun, and couldn't help but feel a heavy weight on his stomach.

He had _failed_.

He would never be someone special, or important, if this kept up. He would become a sensei-less Genin, one of the many, an unknown face in the midst of hundreds. Still, as he clenched his fists, his eyes travelled to the downcast Sakura and the still emotionless Sai.

"Would…Would you like to go to Ichiraku's?" He found himself asking his two teammates.

"Ah, my parents will be worried for me now." Sakura commented, before quietly leaving them behind without saying a word. Naruto turned to Sai, who merely plastered on his fake smile and then replied.

"I cannot, dickless." Then the boy walked away, leaving him alone. Naruto merely breathed in slowly once more, before quietly walking back home.

There really was no need to go to Ichiraku's. There was no need to wallow in self-pity. He had to prepare for the next morning and whatever Boot Camp there was. The Jounin had said to pack lightly…and considering the few things he had, he doubted he had to pack more than he could carry.

As Naruto was thinking on what to bring, Aoba was instead reporting to the Hokage within his office.

The Third Hokage was smoking his pipe, a heavy frown marring his face. His left hand was gently caressing his goatee, while his right one was scribbling something down with a brush on a scroll.

"So why did you feel the need to offer them the Boot Camp option?"

"Hokage-sama, you instructed me to test them as equally as possible," Aoba remarked. "The Boot Camp is the most equal of testing options."

"It is also the longest and most difficult," Hiruzen said, a small smile on his lips. "This has nothing to do with your history, does it?"

"Indeed." Aoba stiffened, if slightly. "If their desire to become a shinobi of Konoha is that strong, then going back to the academy would be a waste, unprepared or not as they are: D-ranks would suffice to get them on par eventually."

"That of course matters only if they survive: there is a reason the Boot Camp option has long since been unused." The Third Hokage stood up from his desk, heading calmly in front of Aoba. "You are not doing this because of Naruto, are you?" he asked, "I can change the assigned sensei, if that is the case."

"Of course not, Hokage-sama." Aoba replied, "Jinchuuriki or not, a shinobi of Konoha is a comrade. I won't deliberately make things worse for him, but Boot Camp is Boot Camp."

Hiruzen merely hummed back his approval, before turning and heading back to his desk. "I'll get the others ready. Dismissed." With that word, Aoba disappeared in a _shunshin_ motion.

The sky was outright stormy when the three failures found themselves near the gates of Konoha, all properly chastised. Sakura had a slightly broken lip, probably from the nervousness of what 'camp' entailed, while Sai seemed his own emotionless self.

Naruto merely looked at the two of them with an awry smile. He had expected more people to have failed, but as time passed it apparently became clear that they had been the only one not to become Genins.

"Ino came by this morning to flaunt how she passed yesterday," Sakura mumbled, her eyes downcast. "She just had to talk with their sensei, and she passed like that." The girl's voice seemed slightly cracked, but he merely stared at her in disbelief.

Sai said nothing, his eyes for once strangely showing a glint of worry: most likely because of the storm and the scroll he was drawing on, rather than because of Sakura's words. Naruto looked hesitant, as he spoke.

"Well…that sucks." It sounded lame as a consolation wording, but it wasn't as if anyone had ever tried and consoled him to begin with: he was in new and uncharted territory. There was a far-away sound of a thunder, soon followed by an increase in the wind's intensity. It probably was just a summer storm, but having to wait for their sensei in the downpour that was certainly going to follow wasn't an endearing prospective.

Sakura didn't reply again to him, effectively ending the conversation. Silence descended once more, interrupted only at a certain moment by Sai placing his scroll into his small backpack, and then starting to check on it. Naruto widened his eyes and then did the same: it was written to always double check your supplies before leaving.

He had ninja wire, a few kunais, a dozen of shurikens and a few supply pills. He also had dried meat and loafs of rock-hard bread that could probably double as a weapon. Two flasks containing water and a third one containing a basic alcohol for disinfecting purposes. Thread and needle, to suture wounds, and gauze. The rest, as shinobis, they were expected to scavenge along the way.

Naruto had double checked his list of equipment together with the academy manual on supplies, and he was pretty sure he was packed and ready to go. He eyed Sakura, and was sort of amused that she too had the same surprised look in actually recalling what they were supposed to do before leaving the village.

A few minutes later, and Aoba appeared out of thin air in front of them, in a tornado of leaves.

"Very well." The Jounin remarked offhandedly. Naruto narrowed his eyes: the man had been spying on them, just like the day before. "It seems you are the only failure of your generation, but at least you have _some_ basics firmly down." The man's voice was harsher and gruffer, his eyes showing some sort of glare that made Naruto freeze.

He hated those glares. He hated and was scared by them in the same amount. Those were the glares of the uncaring eyes, which don't care if you're crying for a broken bone, a dead puppy, or the dying rants of a nearby man. Those were the eyes he loathed.

"I will be sufficient as your instructor for Boot Camp: now, this is your last warning. If you don't want to go, then you may say so now, and you will be able to enter the academy's New Year as if nothing happened. On the other hand, if you thoroughly decide to piss me off and have me waste three months of my life in training you to the bone, I can guarantee you will not have a happy time." The voice was practically a growl by then, and somehow Sakura had begun trembling at that. The loud boom of another thunder struck at the same time the soft pit-patter of rain began to fall.

In the silence that followed, Sai was the first to speak.

"I'm waiting to start camp, four-eyed sensei." As the glare of the Jounin was directed towards the emotionless and pale skinned Genin, Naruto found himself breathing harshly, as he coughed out the words his tongue refused to say.

"I'm…I'm in." Nothing would change after all: whether he went and was hated by the Jounin or he remained and was hated by Konoha, what was the difference? Hate for hate, he at least would rather get the three months of hell.

Sakura seemed torn, her eyes going from Naruto to Sai and backwards, before finally settling on their sensei. She was about to speak, when the sight of another team of Genins caught her eyes and made her still. Naruto eyed with surprise the incoming team of Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino, who were apparently led by Asuma Sarutobi to deliver something to the gates.

"I'm in too, sensei. We can go." She immediately blurted out, her face morphing into an extremely hard and certain one, her arms crossed over her chest as she 'harrumphed' her desire to learn.

"Very well, we can g—"

"Ohi! Forehead!" Ino yelled, having probably seen them. Like a doe caught in the light, Naruto saw Sakura freeze and stare with slightly wide-eyed fright at the incoming blond girl. "Going off to get your ass kicked!?"

"Suck on it Pig!" Sakura retorted, somehow getting back her fighting spirit. "I'm going to make Sasuke fall for me! You just wait and see!"

"Ha! As if he'd want a failure like you!" Ino taunted back, only for Sakura to retort.

"At least I'll get stronger than you, Ino-pig!"

"Forehead-girl!"

"Pig!"

"Haruno, silence." At the words of Aoba, Sakura was properly chastised and kept quiet. "This is unbecoming of a shinobi or a kunoichi, to yell out in the streets." His wording was precise, but it dripped with venom as the Jounin spoke. "Let us go, now."

Those words said, Aoba began to walk out of Konoha's gates just as the first drops of rain turned into the veritable downpour they had all been waiting for. Hurriedly running behind the Jounin, Naruto ground his teeth as he tried to cover his head with the backpack.

"Boot Camp is not far from the village." Aoba retorted, as he kept on walking apparently unfazed by the ground turning muddy. The seasonal rainstorm didn't seem to be dropping in intensity, the heavy drizzle obscuring vision and drenching them in the cold water.

It seemed like hours, before they finally stopped in what seemed like the middle of the forest, with only a gravy path and a Torii gate colored red. The Kanjis for 'Boot Camp' were inscribed and inked black on the summit of the gate, two statues of lions standing at its sides.

"I'll be up ahead: be quick. This area is usually riddled with bandits during the summer, since it's an unused facility in the middle of the forest." A shrug later and Aoba was gone, leaving the three of them in the middle of the downpour.

"Bandits?" Sakura huffed and wheezed; her hair sleek and attached to her face. She was forcefully pushing it behind, but every time she sharply turned it slapped against her, making it useless to try. This still didn't stop her from doing it, however.

"Yes, ugly: bandits." Sai's words weren't met with a fist, probably because Sakura was too tired to even think about hitting the boy. Naruto shuddered from the cold wind, as it settled against his wet clothes and skin. They were going to get a horrible cold or worse if they stayed under the downpour for much longer.

Another flash of light and the sound of thunder came at them, blinding and deafening them momentarily. Naruto took a step forward, his sandal hitting the gravel of the path with a satisfying crunch noise. He wearily sighed. "We have to go."

As they began to walk on the path, their sandals began to fill with the bothersome gravel, forcing them to make many stops along the road to remove them.

"Argh! This is hell!" Sakura whined. "Do we have to stay on the path!?"

"No, ugly: can you climb trees?" Sai retorted, heading to the closest tree and climbing on it, deftly using his hands to get to the lowest branch and then jumping to the other one.

"How did you do that!?" Sakura exclaimed in surprise, her eyes narrow to manage to catch a glimpse of the boy's actions.

"Practice." The raven haired boy replied. "You can climb trees, right?"

"Of course I can!" Sakura huffed. "It's one of the things they teach at the academy!"

Naruto watched as the girl slowly but surely climbed upwards. Not using anything reckless like jumps, and rather being certain of her footing before taking a step up, she managed to get on the lowest branch too and then jump towards the other tree.

She drastically overcompensated, flailing her arms as she was falling against the ground hard. Sai jumped out of his branch, holding himself up only by his legs in a display of acrobatics worthy of the circus. Naruto stared wide eyed at that: maybe the boy was a circus child? He quickly scampered closer to where the girl was, just in time as the raven haired boy dropped the slippery arm of Sakura.

The girl fell down with a startled cry, but Naruto's arms grabbed the falling body. The next instant the blond boy fell on the ground, the girl literally on top of him, having elbowed his stomach during the fall. He groaned and winced in pain, as he felt his breakfast start to climb its way upwards.

Sai jumped down a moment later, before commenting.

"Trees are out for Ugly and Dickless."

With a huff and another groan, Naruto got back up clutching his stomach. "That hurt."

"I'm sorry." Sakura blurted out, her gaze worried. "Did I crack one of your ribs or anything?"

"No —no, I'm fine." He sucked in air sharply, shaking his head. The pain was something that quickly disappeared within him: same courtesy did broken bones, wounds, sprained muscles and even concussions. He probably had developed this sort of self-defense mechanism with the times he had been left alone to fend for himself back at the orphanage. He grumbled as they began to walk once more on the gravel path.

A few minutes later, with a groan of frustration, Sakura removed her sandals and grabbed them with her hands.

"I can't take this anymore! What is wrong with this!?" She yelled. "Walking in the rain!? Ino-bitch just had to talk to her sensei and we get saddled with Boot Camp and a grim future! Life's not fair but _**THIS IS SH**_—"

A loud thunder soon followed with a blinding light, forcing them to close their eyes as the sound of a tree falling reached their ears. The sudden bask of warmth forced Naruto to snap his eyes open and stare at the fallen tree that was now blocking the road. Fire spread through the trunk, as if the lightning bolt had struck through it within mere seconds.

He widened his eyes as he stared at where Sakura was; her body was on the ground and the girl was moaning from the pain. She had probably been pushed backward by the lightning striking the tree, and had landed harshly on the gravel.

"This is bad, dickless." Sai commented. "We need shelter."

"Yeah." He replied, before turning to where Sakura was. "Can you walk, Sakura?"

"I think I sprained my ankle." The girl replied as she tried, and failed, to stand back up. Naruto slumped his shoulders, before helping the girl up and, just like the manual on shinobi arts said, placing her right arm around his shoulders as she lifted the sprained right ankle.

"My feet hurt." She blurted out again.

"It's better if you put your sandals back on." He found himself saying. "We're probably going to have to take a detour, and if there are any snakes around…"

She winced, but simply followed his words. Following Sai at a slower pace they began to walk around the burning tree, past some extremely thick wooden trunks and…back to the gravel path. Their walk lasted for a few more minutes, before Naruto heard Sakura start to murmur again.

"How far off is the camp to begin with? We've been walking for ages!"

"It can't be that far." He offered back as an answer. "Sensei wouldn't have left us if it took that long to reach camp."

"Maybe you could leave me here?" Sakura offered, eying a trunk nearby. "You can run up ahead and…"

"You remember sensei's words on bandits?" Naruto retorted, with an awry face. "We already failed once because of something similar, I learned the lesson. Had nothing else to think about back in the house."

The 'what ifs' and what they had done wrong had plagued him for most of the silent time he had spent within his one room apartment. Things that he would have changed, had he the chance to, things that he would have done instead of not, they all brought forth the simple conclusion that he should have just been attentive to his surroundings. If somebody said there was a risk for an enemy, then the most intelligent thing to do was to be careful about it, not ignore it just because you felt 'safe' at the moment.

He knew that now, and it was a mistake he wouldn't be doing again. Furthermore it wasn't as if Sakura weighted much, and he had stamina to burn.

"You know dickless, if bandits attacked us we would be dead." Sai remarked then, interrupting his silent behavior to deliver his ray of sunshine in the situation. "My ink is not effective and my Kenjutsu is still amateurish."

"I'm nearly dead-last. I don't know how good of a fight I could put against a bandit to begin with." Naruto replied truthfully, as the sudden tensing of Sakura made him turn his puzzled gaze forward.

There was a crevice in the ground, beneath which a tumultuous river was currently flowing. The bridge that travelled from one side to the other was broken, the ropes torn and the wooden planks banging against the other side of the crevice. The only way through appeared to be by actually descending along the walls, passing the river and then reaching for the other side.

Under the thunderstorm, such a thing was tantamount to suicide.

"What do we do now?" Naruto asked; his gaze wide in disbelief for the horrible situation they had landed in.

"We could wait for sensei to come and look for us." Sakura replied uneasily.

"There might be another bridge." Sai pointed out, "The gravel path splits." The boy added, his fingers pointing at where the gravel did seem to turn towards the deeper areas of the forest.

"Let's go then." He gulped down nervously, as he readjusted Sakura's weight and began once more to walk. Sai was slightly ahead of them, keeping an eye out for the path. The incessant downpour was slowly dying out, much to his relief. He didn't know how long he could have kept on, thoroughly drenched as he was in the freezing rain.

"Stop." Sai's word stilled him, and when the boy gestured for them out of the path, he obeyed as fast as he could while carrying Sakura with him.

His breathing slowed down, as with the rain settling the sound of boots scrunching on the gravel came stronger to his ears. His heart began to beat faster, as the feeling of dread pooled within his body. The pairs of feet were coming closer. Two bandits, one of them holding a katana on his shoulder, were coming along the path talking to one another. Just like with any summer storm, the rain ended up abruptly, and the voice of the two bandits was carried on to their ears.

"Man, we're going to be paid big time now." The burly looking bandit of the two commented, "A Konoha Jounin, knocked out and ready to deliver. We're going to be rich! I can't wait to get myself a geisha or two."

The other rolled his eyes. "You have nothing better to do but yell that?" The tip of a ceramic bottle found its way to the bandit's mouth, the probably alcoholic beverage within being gulped down avidly. "I mean, what if they send someone to free him?"

"They won't get here in time: the boss' got him ready and packed to go. He'll be gone in less than two hours tops."

To those words, Naruto's breath hitched. He felt Sakura's hand clench against his jacket, the unspoken terror clearly rippling out of her tense body. Sai remained emotionless, but a small downward frown marred his usually stoic face. Probably the capture of a Jounin was something that got through even him. Jounins were supposed to be high level ninjas, and for one to be captured alive…it just meant that either their instructor had gotten extremely unlucky, or that the bandit's boss was someone not to be trifled with.

The two bandits walked by, soon disappearing from view down the road.

"What do we do?" Sakura whispered fervently. "_What the hell do we do?_"

"We go back." Sai intoned. "We warn the Hokage. He will send a relief team."

"Our sensei is going to be taken away in two hours!" Sakura hissed back.

"We know nothing, ugly." Sai replied calmly. "We go in blind, deaf and without plan: we die. Dickless, you understand me?"

He tensed slightly. He didn't want to die. On the other hand being a shinobi meant being ready to die for your country. In this situation…this wasn't a situation for Genins. This was a situation for Jounins, Anbus, for whoever was ready to take it: academy graduates shouldn't be trying to save their Jounin from something like this.

"We can't leave him here." Sakura hissed again, "It's not right!"

"Ugly," Sai retorted in a low voice, "you are wounded. The bandits are more than us. We have no way of saving our sensei: we should retreat."

"What about just freeing him?" Naruto blinked as Sakura talked once more. "He was probably caught by luck alone. If we free him, he can get us out of here."

"And if he can't, ugly? We will die."

Sakura groaned, shaking her head as she bit her lip.

Naruto closed his eyes, hoping against all odds for a solution. "They work in pairs." He commented suddenly. "Sai, you can do the Henge, right?"

Sai brought up an eyebrow, before slowly nodding.

"The two guys who passed by. Can you copy the guy with the Katana? I'll Henge into the other one, and we'll bring Sakura in as a prisoner to get to the cells. We get to where sensei is and we look at the situation. You can use those mice of yours to scout ahead now —since it stopped raining and all— so we know where they keep Aoba-san."

"If we can't save him, dickless?" Sai asked, slowly bringing up an eyebrow.

"Then we…" he gulped anxiously, closing his eyes, "we find a way to delay them and get out of there."

"We could die." Sai's reply came calmly, without even a hint or a shred of emotion. "We might have to kill." He added then, "Are you fine with that, dickless?"

"We're shinobis." Naruto replied, his saliva sticking to his throat, as every word he spoke felt like lead. "It's what we _have_ to do."

"What about you, ugly?" Sai asked then, his gaze moving to Sakura. "Still ready for it?"

"Y…" she closed her eyes and her breathing began to hitch, as if she was just about to—

The next instant, Sakura retched on the floor, the tension turning too much for her. She staggered and nearly fell on her own pool of vomit, hadn't it been for Naruto's swift tightening of his hold on her to avoid that. The blond haired boy sighed, and looked at Sai while shaking his head.

"We could leave her here," Naruto remarked. "Or send her back to Konoha."

"No," the girl replied, cutting in on their conversation. "I'm fine. We can do this," she hastily added. "Let's do this."

And with those words, the three of them prepared for their plans.

Meanwhile, within the bandit camp that was barely held together with sticks and mud, Aoba was calmly standing bound by ropes and feigning unconsciousness.

"Seems they chose to come and rescue your sorry ass." The voice of one of the patrolling bandits rung in the room. "Really, of all the methods to test Genins, the Boot Camp one? Thing is damn horrid, man."

"Keep your roles," Aoba hissed with his eyes closed. "Do you understand me?"

"Yeah, yeah." The voice replied, as the Katana wielding bandit merely changed its Henge, another equally gruff bandit sort. His colleague did the same, and soon the two of them stood guard as they watched an ink mouse silently make its way towards them. Avoiding the puddles it headed towards the two 'guards' who were now currently trying their best not to snicker.

In their eyes, the attempt was poor. They were chuunin however, and faking being guards was better than merely sitting at the gates and waiting. They had of course known where the three had hidden behind the tree, and they had quickly gone back to camp the moment they had been out of sight. It was actually sort of endearing, seeing three academy students think they stood a chance.

Technically speaking, they were at the present hanging on a loose thread. There was only one way they could pass the exam now, and that way was to not get caught while freeing their sensei. While morally questionable, going back to Konoha to get aid would have been within the laws, and granted them passage. Not going back to Konoha in order to save their sensei was something to be proud of morally …

_But it was worthy of pass grade only_ if they actually saved him. If they didn't, then it was all for naught.

The mouse walked back and soon disappeared from sight, leaving the two fake brigands to stare at one another with a sort of knowing glance. "Let's prepare their reception then."

The mouse actually came back to the trio of hopeful Genins and morphed into ink and then letters, describing upon the scroll the position of the sensei and of the enemies along the complex.

"There are at least seventeen guards going around the camp." Sakura hissed as she looked at the map, her gaze then heading over to where the camp actually was. It was a wooden fort with a low palisade and a couple of wood buildings. The smaller of which served also as a prison, on the other side of the fort's location.

"The palisade is low: we can climb over it." Naruto suggested, his eyes fixed on the moving red points. The ink-mice of Sai were actually deadly useful. It was a surprise this was an E-rank jutsu. Probably the boy had a shinobi relative, or otherwise was an extremely skilled graduate. He had been home schooled, hadn't he? He felt a slight pang of envy at the notion. Sakura had left the academy with the highest grades, the raven haired boy was home schooled…and he could barely make two nearly dead bunshins.

"The patrols are tight," Sai replied. "We can get in, but we need a distraction for getting out."

"Maybe you should leave me outside." Sakura murmured, "With one of Sai's colored scrolls I mean: you two get back in after patrol, and as soon as you head over the guys I pour chakra into the things. People get distracted and you get in and out. I can't really walk with a sprained ankle."

"If only we had radios, you could work as our oversight." Naruto muttered, pushing his right hand through his hair. "Tell us where the patrols are from a vantage point and so on..."

"Radios like these, dickless?" Sai remarked, putting his hand into his backpack, and taking out a small plastic bag with a set for three radios.

Naruto blinked. "I'm an idiot." He admitted. "What else do you have in your bag?"

Sai blinked back, before slowly opening it up for the other two to see. Somehow, the gleeful look on Naruto's face told the Ne 'failure' that maybe, just maybe, he had unleashed something he shouldn't have.

Shinobu Mibu was a chuunin of Konohagakure no Sato. As a chuunin, they were subjected regularly to tests, examinations and drills. Sometimes, infiltration practices happened at the same time Genin or other Chuunin tests took place. The Chuunins were also asked to stand in during Jounin-level drills, where not being seen by opponent was a key part of the test and killing was prohibited.

As it was, he was standing guard at the gate with an equally henged Izumo, hoping that the Genins that had to pass would not try and get in from the main entrance. He had barely expected them to actually get in unnoticed.

He hadn't expected the smoke bomb, the hail of shurikens and what looked like a big black lion pushing through the main wooden gate and disappearing within the complex, roaring as it went.

Having to act like a brigand rather than a highly trained shinobi, instead of using his reaction instincts to merely put in place a _Kawarimi_ he was forced to bring his hands in a cross shape in front of his face, suffer the shurikens' blows and then feign being dead with an aptly placed henge.

Izumo suffered the same 'fate', and soon the sounds of people yelling 'brigand-like sentences' echoed through the camp. He frowned slightly. The noises were a bit _too_ _high_ to be normal: either the academy graduates had left the place to highly trained shinobis, or something was definitively amiss. Another set of explosions rang in his ears as he cracked open an eye to stare into a second ink lion who dashed off away from camp with a partner of the same 'species'.

He frowned. That didn't make sense.

Slowly, the buzz in his ears opened up, and the communication from the standing officer in charge of the 'Boot Camp' method came through.

"I don't know if I should send you all back to the academy or not. Mission's over."

Shinobu stood up and blinked; he looked at Izumo's perplexed face as the other chuunin began to walk in the complex. He was trying to understand just _what_ had happened when he stilled near the side of the 'prison' for Aoba.

Entangled in a mess of ninja wire were four chuunins of Konoha, while the two guards who were meant to be on guard duty were slightly charred, and the other wood building was also nicely burning as if somebody had set fire to it.

"Did you know that smoke bombs and alcohol infused ink are flammable materials?" The voice of Kotetsu, Izumo's usual partner, rang from their side. They turned to meet the amused glance of the chuunin, who shook his head and took a deep breath.

"I don't know _how_ they did that, but in a second we were swarmed with exploding and flaming mice that distracted us, while what we considered the diversion actually was the main attack, entered, kidnapped Aoba, and then left through the main gate."

"The…The ink lions?" Shinobu found himself asking, half intrigued and half surprised.

"There was one of the Genins, the pale skinned one, inside. He got to their sensei and drew another lion to get him out. Since we thought a frontal attack was suicidal, we believed it just a diversion. The second Genin, the Jinchuuriki…he was a piece of work. He actually nearly sliced the throat of Saotome. We didn't see him, but when we caught a glimpse and followed him in the alley…" he pointed at the entangled mess of shinobis, "_that_ was what we were met with."

"And the girl?" Izumo asked.

"She was on the lookout, binoculars and radio out. We couldn't think about going on her side, because she was well hidden on top of the tree branches, and the Jinchuuriki had already gone and taken her out of there…they got us nice and easy."

"So it's a pass for them and a fail for us." Shinobu remarked, his shoulders dropping.

"Team Thirteen too…it's the first in how long?" Kotetsu turned thoughtful as he asked the question, before answering himself, "Five, ten years?"

"I think it was nine…"

_Meanwhile_…

Aoba finally opened his eyes, coming out of his fake knocked out disposition to look at his three students making camp near a covered fire, after having dug a ditch in the ground and placed some branches and leaves to cover the light. Huddled together, their grim faces actually gave the impression of shell-shocked soldiers than that of children.

He knew it sounded cold-hearted, but he had truly expected for them to fail. He had sincerely hoped they would just do anything that would look bad if written on a report, so that he could fail them. Either for lack of teamwork, or for having left a Jounin of Konoha behind, or something like that.

He hadn't thought they would have actually managed to save him, and the way the Jinchuuriki, Naruto, was shivering, made him think it wasn't just because of the wet clothes.

"You're awake, sensei." Sai commented, and just as suddenly the heads of both Naruto and Sakura snapped to meet his gaze. The eyes weren't there to look at him in relief: they were _accusing_ glares.

"There was no-one in the camp that could have captured you, sensei." Naruto's hissed voice had that sort of strangled tone that belonged to someone who was barely reigning in his anger. "And you're without a wound."

"The brigands had a pretty distinctive walk pattern." Sai quipped in, "Shinobi-like, to describe it."

"I…I also saw them from my position, sensei. Some of them dropped the Henge when Naruto was out of there." Sakura whispered.

"Did you just want to fail us, sensei?" Naruto's voice asked, and for once Aoba was actually struck speechless. He had indeed planned something like that. "Is it…is it because of me?"

Of course it wasn't because Naruto Uzumaki was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, but merely because their grades shouldn't have made them able to even graduate, at least not during his times. He was trying to do them a _favor_! He was just trying to get them to back off the shinobi business unless more adequately prepared…

His silence was taken as an affirmative answer, because the Uzumaki's shoulders slumped down, and his eyes looked downcast.

"Oh…" the boy mumbled, his hands clenching slightly as he took a deep breath, "what did I do to you?" He asked, the other two students standing by his side in a perplexed yet respectful silence. "What did I do to all of you!?" Naruto's next question was hissed, so hard was his desire not to make noise, maybe to avoid attracting attention in case the test was still on. "_Why do you all hate my fucking guts!?_"

Aoba took a deep breath, and then stood in a sitting position.

"I cannot tell you this, Naruto." The man began calmly, pulling his glasses off his face to clean them. Before the boy could actually scream at him, he hastily added. "You have to ask the Hokage about it."

The sour face of Naruto told him the boy wasn't going to be satisfied with that, but it was the best he could do. "You will see him soon enough though: you all passed the test."

"You haven't answered our previous question, sensei." Sai piped in again, calmly looking at him without a shred of either interest or boredom…just looking.

"No. I did not want to fail you because of Naruto. I wanted to fail all of you because, in my opinion, _you were not ready for the shinobi world._" His reply was met with a short gasp by Sakura, while Naruto's face merely steeled itself. Sai neither said nor reacted in any way. That did make him curious: how was it possible for a graduate to school his features so well?

"But…But I was the first in class!" Sakura exclaimed.

"But during physical you were among the last." He rebuffed the girl, "Naruto here was the last of his class throughout most of the academy, and even though he improved, he still came pretty close to the dead-last position." In the silence that descended, Aoba found himself speaking once more to add another bit.

"The only exclusion would be Sai here: his grades were par with those of Sasuke, your rookie of the year. He, I would have suggested taking on an apprenticeship with an available Jounin rather than repeat the school year."

Sakura's eyes were filled with tears, but Naruto's gaze…that actually was what made him wince. It was empty. It was as if it didn't matter that he had actually passed. He wasn't throwing himself in the air cheering and he wasn't actually caring about what he had said moments ago.

He was just…_there_.

"We should be going back to Konoha." Aoba remarked, standing up. Without even saying a word, he was surprised by both Naruto and Sai moving to flank Sakura and help her up.

"You sprained an ankle?" He asked then, and as the girl stammered an affirmative reply he knelt in front of her feet and began to circulate the healing chakra from his hands onto her wounded area. The foot had been bandaged and held still with shinobi wire and gauze, as if it had been broken rather than just sprained.

"There." He said, "All set."

Gingerly bringing weight back on the foot, Sakura sighed in relief before slipping on her sandals.

"We can reach Konoha by nightfall if we hurry."

He didn't want to admit it, even to himself, but the look of the Uzumaki's child…

It had to be brought up to the Hokage as soon as possible. He knew enough to know that closing oneself off, especially for a shinobi, was dangerous. All the pent-up anger eventually had to be unleashed in some way or form. The small outburst of before, while clearly something to frown upon for a shinobi, was a clear indicator that things with Naruto were reaching a very dangerous breaking point.

If the Jinchuuriki broke…

Then what of the Bijuu?

**Author's notes**

…**I actually realized that I've somehow created a team that inverts the canon one. Sakura acts like Naruto. Naruto acts like Sasuke. Sai acts like a sort of more silent Sakura (since he's spying on Naruto).**

…

**And let's not consider the rest.**

**Now, as it is clearly (or not) seen in canon, the Genin tests vary per individual. I think that since every team has different specialization, so too is the same with the tests. I considered what exactly a round-all encompassing test for academy graduates would be. Academy graduates aren't taught Genjutsu. They aren't taught Kenjutsu and all that they have is three E-rank (maybe 4) and shuriken throwing.**

**Explosive tags are pricey. (Sakura doesn't have one. Naruto either. Sasuke has tons) Private training actually gives the edge to clan kids. Shinobi should be outfitted by a central system that hands out shuriken/kunais/ninja wire. **

**There should be regular drills (Like in the military) with the higher rank. **

**Since we are however talking of children soldiers that go and should theoretically kill people at twelve/thirteen and be able to level mountains at sixteen, I think I am granted theoretical freedom to either overhaul the military system or change it as I see fit. **

**Genins are practically the rookie killers. Their purpose is to do D-ranks till the instructor sees they know their stuff, and then do C-ranks until 'first blood' is drawn. Then the Chuunin exams can be held. Chuunins can then remain as such for as long as 8/9 years or more (Shinobu is a canon character, he is 20 something) but the same applies to Genins (some of the characters who give up during the first exam, they are what? 22/23?) meaning there IS a Genin Pool of sorts and there IS a sort of 'sensei-less' team system in place. **

**Jounins probably follow the Genins around for a single year, two at most. Then it's 'self-study' and 'good luck' if they still can't pass to Chuunin.**

**Now, canon Naruto appears stronger than this Naruto. This is because you are probably considering an 'all brawling' situation a la videogame where they give each other punches and kicks.**

**For one thing, not being dressed in kill-me orange and being quiet actually gives huge bonuses to this Naruto. The other has shadow clones. This one slices his throat before he hears him coming. Anti-climactic, but then again you know how ninja battles are meant to be?**

***battle starts***

…

***Corpse appears***

…

***Battle ends***

**And the … are moments of silence. Of course we can't have that, it would be too much anticlimactic, but it doesn't change what **_**should be**_** right from what is.**


	3. The Team is Born

Introverted

_Chapter Three._

The one room apartment looked just like he had left it that morning, when he finally came back in the middle of the night. He slowly dropped his backpack in the corner, closing the door behind him with a dull thud. The room was silent, like always.

"How are you doing?" He asked to no-one in particular.

"Oh, I'm fine." He replied, his voice slightly bitter. "I've just discovered my sensei wanted me to fail." He shook his head, muttering under his breath. "Of course they all hate me, what was I hoping for? A miracle?"

He kicked off his sandals, wincing as the pain from his bleeding feet hit him. He just cursed slightly, sure that after the fourth step he would stop feeling the pain. He had always healed that fast. "At least I have something of worth: I can be the meat shield." He grumbled.

He removed his jacket, completely drenched in a mixture of rain water and sweat. He flung it in another corner, soon followed by his shorts and the rest of his wet clothes. He should have taken a shower, before putting on his pajama. The problem was that the baths in the complex were already closed.

It was a one-room apartment for a reason after all: there was a bath for every floor, and it worked on an hourly basis. He had the last hours of the early morning, so the sweet pleasures of hot water had been removed from his meager pleasures in life from the very beginning. Naruto didn't care: he felt tired, which considering he usually could outrun all of his classmates meant that he really was at his limits.

Sakura had to be carried home by their sensei, since the kunoichi collapsed halfway. Sai had managed to reach Konoha, and had then disappeared only he knew where in the midst of the dark alleys. At night the village was so peaceful…

He fell with a soft thud on his mattress. No worries clouding his mind.

The next moment, just as his peaceful snoring filled the room, a shadow slinked out from the corner. A kunai barely glinted in the moonlight, its form poised to strike. Silently, without even making the slightest of sounds, the kunai fell down on the tired and sleeping form of Naruto.

Naruto Uzumaki awoke with a startled cry from his nightmare, the cheerful light of the sun's rays illuminating his room. The chirps of the birds were somewhat drowned by the bustling city's noises, but that didn't stop the small flock from trying its hardest to sing.

He sighed, bringing his body back down on the bed as he breathed once more calmly. He brought his right hand over his face, covering it as he felt the cold sweat trickle down his body. He moved to the side of the bed, checking at the clock and then tiredly standing up. He had five minutes to go before his shower time: he could start on the breakfast.

He opened the fridge, half hoping he had a cup of instant ramen somewhere, but knowing all too well that within the white machinery only air remained. He opened the cupboards, and was met with the desolated scenery of nothingness.

The orphans had a stipend from the state, provided they entered the ninja academy. Entering the shinobi program granted you a few benefits, among which one was the usage of the one-room apartments reserved to homeless ninjas. The orphanage really wasn't the place to leave weapons for training around, and he didn't trust the matrons themselves from taking everything he had away from him.

It happened all too many times, having the food nicked when he was just about to eat it. One of the reason he scarfed it down as fast as he could, whenever he had it: you never know when someone else might take it. He ignored the rumbling of his stomachs. He could always believe himself into a diet, like one of those ultra-skinny models that had their posters hanging around town.

He grabbed the towel and the industrial quality soap, before heading off. Of course the water was not only running by the time he got there, but also freezing cold. One day, he would fix the pipes _and_ the bastard who had the hour before him for the shower. Till then, he had no choice but to let it run.

No matter how much you yelled, people that didn't want to listen wouldn't.

It took him a few moments, before gathering enough courage to just plunge head in and scrub as fast as he could. The cold and icy feeling of the liquid made him clatter his teeth by the time he was done, and as he speedily went out and covered himself with the towel, he was just glad it was the summer period.

During winter, he usually brought the pans of water back in the apartment to heat them, and then walked back to the showers to use them.

He finally returned to his room, grabbing some clean clothes and putting them on. This time he was wearing a soft maroon tint as a jacket, a light grey shirt underneath and a pair of dark brown shorts. He could basically press himself against any wall of the village and appear as part of the scenery. He had done that once: it actually worked because his blond hair hid well with the lighter shades of beige the walls were tinted in.

He then fastened the forehead protector, this time on his left shoulder, before heading out. It was in that moment that he realized that their sensei hadn't actually given them a place to meet. He wracked his brain, but since the man hadn't actually said anything…he took a deep breath, and then his cerulean eyes settled on the Hokage's tower.

There was a confrontation he couldn't avoid now. The Hokage knew the reason, and now was as good as any time to have an answer.

He began to walk in that direction, calmly but with a purposeful stride. People don't tend to watch too long moving objects that aren't going in their directions. They also don't like to look at glinting things in the sunlight, which meant that he actually had people averting their gazes from him as he walked. The fact he had purposefully placed the forehead protector where it could glint was just a coincidence, of course.

All too soon, the Hokage tower came into view. His stomach grumbled slightly as the thought of actually talking with the old man started to sound less and less appealing. Without money, it wasn't as if he could go to Ichiraku however. He breathed in and out evenly, trying to calm his erratically beating heart as he began to walk once more. The stairs seemed so long, but by the time he reached the end of them, the Hokage's office stood in view with the door slightly ajar.

He carefully crept towards it, knocking softly before taking a hesitant peek inside at the same time.

"Hokage-sama?" he asked.

"Naruto," the Sandaime replied with a small smirk and a warm tone. "Please, come in." He did just that. The office of the Sandaime was something he had grown accustomed to a long time before. Yet with the passing of months he had stopped visiting it as usual. The old man behind the desk was the most powerful shinobi of the entire village, but he was not capable of doing everything.

"I passed," he said, trying to make some sort of conversation.

"I know," the Sandaime chuckled softly. "You did well: would you like to go to Ichiraku to celebrate?"

His eyes lit at the prospective, but he awkwardly found himself wryly smiling back. "I don't know. The Jounin seemed keener on getting me and Sakura out of the team."

Hiruzen merely nodded back slowly. "I was informed, but he did what he thought was right. There was no favoritism in play."

"He told me…" his voice trailed off slightly, becoming a mouthed murmur that however the Sandaime did catch. The old man sighed, slowly standing up and gesturing for him to follow, as they moved nearer to the window that gave onto the sight of the entirety of Konoha.

Naruto looked with perplexity at the Hokage, but followed quietly to stand next to him.

"Konoha is a beautiful village," Hiruzen began, "But its people…some of them are woefully ignorant, and others had their hearts ripped apart by a great tragedy that befall us, twelve years ago."

"The Kyuubi?" he asked, flicking his gaze from the Hokage to the village itself. From his spot, they all looked like ants crawling around their nests.

"Yes, the Kyuubi." The Hokage's voice was laced with worry, and quite a bit of guilt. He frowned: what had the Hokage to be guilty about?

"The Yondaime Hokage sacrificed himself to kill the Kyuubi. That is the story that is told." The Sandaime breathed out slowly, "But that is a lie."

He tensed.

What did that have to do with him?

"The Bijuu could not be killed. It had to be sealed." The Hokage continued speaking, his voice quavering.

He wasn't really going to say that, was he? It wasn't possible. He hadn't—

"And the only thing strong enough to hold the Kyuubi was a living being." The third Hokage turned to look at him, with his eyes slightly watery. "He wished for the people to view the container of the Kyuubi, the Jinchuuriki, as a savior. He wanted people to see him as a hero," the old man added. "Yet they viewed him only as the beast he contained, as the jailed and not as the jailer."

"That living being was a baby." Hiruzen whispered then.

"Me?" Naruto asked; his voice choked down as he clamped a hand to his chest. "I'm the Jinchuuriki?" He whispered, tears streaking down his face as he shook his head. "No. You have it wrong. I can't be it. Jiji, Hokage-sama, I _can't_ be him."

"You heal faster than normal, Naruto." The Sandaime spoke calmly, his voice nothing more than a low whisper. "And when your stomach is touched by chakra, a black seal should appear."

"_Why me_?" His voice was nothing more than a barely controlled sob at that point, but he wanted an answer. Why did he have to be the one saddled with such a thing? Why him and not somebody else, somebody with a family, someone of the clan kids, anyone but him!

"You…" the Sandaime's gaze went back to Konoha, "You were the closest."

"Only because of that?" he asked quietly. "I was the closest? I was a baby, right? I was the closest to what? The door of the nursery? I was the closest to what, the window? I was in the corner among the other cribs? I was the only newborn around, taking a stroll through Konoha!? _**WHAT THE HELL WAS I CLOSER TO**_!?"

"Naruto, I'm sorry." The Sandaime answered, getting down on one knee to be on the same eye level as him. "I know this is a lot to take in, but—"

"I'm fine." Naruto blurted out, shaking his head slowly. "At least I know why." He muttered. "Why didn't anyone tell me, if they all know?"

"They don't all know, Naruto," Hiruzen said. "The new generations were not told, since I saw how much hatred the old one held, I passed another law to keep it a secret so that you could at least grow with friends of your age…" the old man shuddered, "I was wrong once more. Poisoned by subtle words, I saw you grow up alone and isolated…"

"It's all right." Naruto turned to look at the village. "I just have to show them, right? That I'm not the Kyuubi."

"Yes," the third Hokage replied with a small smile, "You just have to show them."

The blond boy sighed, pushing his hair back with both of his hands. "Did my parents…did they abandon me after I became a Jinchuuriki?"

"Oh no, no —absolutely not— they didn't." Hiruzen's voice was now filled with concern, as he consoled the boy. "They loved you very much, Naruto. They died during the Kyuubi assault, but I know they would have loved you, no matter what."

"There's nothing left to prove it, though;" he replied with a sad smile. "It's fine…"

"How about we go to Ichiraku now?" Hiruzen asked, "I've been hearing your stomach grumbling since you came in. I'll have a look at the orphan's check. It is supposed to come in punctually in your bank account now, since you _are_ a shinobi of Konoha."

"Thanks, Jiji." He replied with a small smile, before starting to walk alongside the old man to where Ichiraku was.

Meanwhile, deep beneath the bowels of the earth, Danzo Shimura was calmly reading through the report of his Ne operative.

"At least he is no longer a yelling orange wearing maniac." The Yami of shinobi murmured to himself, as he looked through the masterfully written kanjis of Sai. The innovation the boy had developed to Sai's existing arsenal had been the spur of the moment, but that didn't make them any less valuable. It reminded him of another shinobi who could do the same. It reminded him of a shinobi who tweaked the summoning jutsu to become a silent thunder in the battlefield, of a man who could kill thousands with grace, elegance and without showy displays.

It reminded him of a real shinobi, one that lived his life in the shadows.

"What is your personal opinion on the boy, Sai?" Danzo asked with a low voice, his single eye now gazing at the pale skinned boy.

"He is…strange." The operative admitted that openly, and by itself this should have been enough since Roots were not valued for having opinions, but merely for following orders. "He is a mystery."

"Oh?" Danzo commented, "Why would you say that, Sai?"

"He thought the test was more difficult on purpose because of him. He said that everyone hated him, but it doesn't make sense." The operative turned thoughtful, before adding, "If he is hated, why does he wish to become a shinobi of Konoha, Danzo-sama?"

"Naruto Uzumaki," Danzo remarked slowly, "is a flight risk for Konohagakure no Sato. Your mission is pertinent to that. You are to observe, test his loyalties and whether he is or not a true Konohagakure shinobi. Should he be lacking, should he betray, you are ordered to execute him."

"Hai, Danzo-sama." Those words spoken, the operative was soon excused from the Yami of Shinobi's presence. Danzo merely turned back to his own desk, quietly reaching for a folder and flipping it open. The pictures that came out belonged to none other than the fourth Hokage, and he couldn't help but quietly murmur.

"If Hiruzen doesn't…then I will."

The folder was then snapped shut, and placed once more within the drawer of the desk. The old Yami of shinobi stood up and slowly walked out of his office, deep within the secret complex of Root. The white and smooth walls of the complex gave way to the rugged features of one of the hidden passageways that he used. Walking slowly, mostly because he had no desire to run, he easily reached for the sliding wall that gave into the forbidden side of the Konohagakure library.

He moved towards a particular archive, and with a quick hand sign, he broke through the seal's protection. He deftly opened the archive's uppermost drawer, removing a thick leather book from within. The title 'Shinobi Annals' was clearly written on the front page.

It was strange, yet actually reasonable, that the academy's graduation pictures, photos, and what-not could only be in the private archives. No ninja loved fame. The Kages were considered the leaders of their villages, their reputation extremely renowned, but in the end a successful shinobi was one who wasn't famous. Fame brought forth recognition, and recognition brought forth troubles.

The Fourth Hokage had been chosen mostly because he could be a good figurehead, rather than because of his power. Where there was a bright light, there had to be a deep, pitch black, darkness.

As he returned to the sliding wall, to once more re-enter Root, he smiled slowly.

At the same time, Naruto Uzumaki was nearing the Ichiraku's stall. Once, the name had been Ichiraku's Ramen, but that had changed to only Ichiraku's after…

He shook his head. He looked warily towards the Hokage, before biting his lip.

"Maybe I should have gone to the bank first," Naruto spoke quietly, "I could have fixed my tab then."

"Oh?" Hiruzen brought up an eyebrow. "Don't worry, this is my treat: I'll let you go afterwards, all right?"

"All right." Naruto breathed out, his head slightly down. The third Hokage said nothing, but he was now curious for the reason of the blond boy's behavior. He would know soon enough, since they entered the stall a few seconds later.

"Ayame-san," Naruto said, walking in and taking the first free seat in the corner. The Hokage was surprised of the subdued tone of the boy. He had, of course, known that Naruto had drastically changed his behavior, but he had hoped it wouldn't have moved on to the few people who actually still cherished him.

"Naruto," the ramen girl smiled at the sight of the boy, huffing as she moved to one more stove. While Ramen was still served within the stall, it wasn't the only food available, which was the reason why Hiruzen actually treated the blond boy to something in the stall so early in the morning.

"Hokage-sama!?" the girl's eyes then fixed on him, making the old man chuckle as he greeted back the young woman.

"My, if it isn't young Ayame-chan. How are you doing?"

"Everything's fine Hokage-sama," the girl was slightly flustered at the Hokage's use of the 'chan' but said nothing. "What can I bring you two?"

"I'll have the milk and the bread, Ayame-san." The voice of the boy was merely a whisper, as if whatever it was that he wanted to say had been drowned. Hiruzen frowned. He had offered to buy breakfast to the blond. He had expected him to go with Ramen, for him to say no to such a salty food in the morning, and then for the both of them to have the more usual breakfast with eggs or fish or anything else. He would have even conceded the pork, just to splurge a bit.

Milk and bread seemed…there was something wrong. There _had_ to be something wrong.

He was the Kami of Shinobi, and yet there was something he was missing. There was that nagging feeling that something was off, as the other occupants of the stall came in to eat or left he still couldn't understand what felt _different_.

"I'll have tea." Ayame nodded as she then turned around and moved to prepare the orders. He slightly narrowed his eyes then: the girl hadn't even commented on Naruto actually passing the exam. He wouldn't say the stall woman was actually giving the boy the cold shoulder, but there wasn't the feeling of warmth he was used to see when he came in with the boy.

It was then that he widened unperceptively his eyes. Teuchi was missing from the scene. He frowned. Was the other man sick? He quietly wondered on that as their orders arrived, and said nothing as he began to sip his tea calmly. His eyes went to Naruto, who was calmly eating his own breakfast. Calmly eating and Naruto had never, in his mind, mixed together. The boy seemed subdued even as he ate. There had to be something going on, but he was a shinobi, not a barbarian: he'd tactfully ask afterwards.

"Naruto!" The voice of Sakura Haruno broke through the uncomfortable silence that had stretched for far too long in their side of the stall. He was surprised then by how fast the boy could finish eating his food, before swinging around and standing back up.

"Have to go." He muttered quickly, before dashing out.

This too was _extremely_ suspicious.

"I'm picking up his tab." The Sandaime commented, "How much does he owe you?"

Ayame looked at him with a perplexed face, before it slowly became grim as if she had just then swallowed a toad. "Nothing," the girl whispered, "He's always paying, even when I offer him the meal on the house. I think…I think he leaves the Ryos on the counter even when he doesn't order food. I found a few stacked notes every now and then…"

"Why would he do that?" Hiruzen asked, perplexed at such a behavior.

"I think he feels guilty, Hokage-sama." Ayame replied in a low voice. The girl shook her head slowly, before grabbing the plate and moving to the sink to clean it. Hiruzen said nothing, as his eyes scanned the now empty spot where Naruto had been earlier, and then back to the tense shoulders of Ayame. He brought up an eyebrow as he finally settled his gaze on a corner of the room he hadn't bothered to look in. Once, Teuchi had told him he had placed the frame of Ayame's mother in the corner because she would have enjoyed watching them cook even from heaven.

Now, next to the frame of Ayame's mother there was another one.

That of her father.

Naruto was walking quickly down the road, following Sakura who had been looking for him everywhere.

"Sensei is waiting for us in training ground thirteen —I didn't know where you lived, so I went over to Ichiraku's. Seems I was lucky." The girl's voice was laced with self-importance, as if she was explaining her reasoning to him and was expecting praise. He was in a bad mood, his stomach making knots and his hands sweating slightly.

He was probably a masochist. He shouldn't have gone to Ichiraku's, he shouldn't even ask other people if they wanted to go there, but he had a _debt_ to pay after all. He always would.

"Yeah." He replied in a whisper. The pink haired girl didn't look downcast at his soft-spoken tones, because the next moment she began to talk. He didn't know what to say, and so he remained silent as the girl expressed her belief that eating Ramen in the morning was bad, that she thought she had seen the Hokage standing next to him for a moment and many other normal things for normal twelve years old.

He was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi and here he was listening to how the girl's long hair was because she had heard —by a trustworthy source of course— how Sasuke loved long hair. He didn't know whether to point out that the shinobi manual advised against complicated hair patterns and long hair or not, because it was easier to pull on the long hair of a female than not. Then again, he wasn't going to start a 'fashion war' on long or short hair.

Training ground thirteen was nothing more than a grassy plain with a few sparse shrubberies. A single big tree stood in the center of it, casting a big shadow over their sensei, the man's back against the trunk. Sai was sitting a few meters away, painting on his scroll with his ink brush.

"Sensei! I found him!" Sakura's exclamation rang through the training ground, as the girl waved her arm to attract the attention of their teacher. Aoba-sensei did see them, since he pushed himself off the side of the tree and then calmly walked over them, Sai putting away his scroll and getting on their side.

"Well then," the Jounin began, "We can now begin our introductions as Team Thirteen." The sunglass wearing man smiled slightly, before starting. "My name is Aoba Yamashiro and, _just as planned_, I have decided to train you all into Chuunins and then, hopefully, see you achieve Jounin-rank before I die of old age. I like grated Yam and Yamaimo. I dislike improvising and randomness. I work for the Torture and Interrogation department of Konohagakure, and am a Jounin-sensei as of this year. I held the title of Tokubetsu Jounin previously. My dream for the future…is to get you all promoted, _just as planned_."

"Your turn, Sai."

"My name is Sai Satou. I like to draw beautiful things. I dislike having to see Ugly and Dickless things. I enjoy—"

"**Shannaro**!" Sakura's fist drove Sai into the ground, as the pink-haired girl began to yell. "You damn punk! What the hell is your kami-be-damned problem!? I'm going to—"

"Haruno-san." Aoba's curt surname calling held the desired effect, as Sakura looked bashfully away from the scene of her 'carnage'. Naruto hadn't of course stopped the girl. If Sai wanted to dig his own tomb, he was free to go at it as he wished.

"Your turn."

Sakura nodded, and then blissfully gazing in the horizon began.

"My name is Sakura Haruno. I like…" she giggled with a faraway glance, "And I dislike…Sai, to begin with, and Ino-pig and Ami-stupid. My dream is to…" she giggled again, a slight dribble of blood falling down her nose. Naruto saw their Jounin-sensei sigh in frustration, before turning to look at him.

"Naruto?"

He gulped down nervously.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki." He began, his eyes looking now down on the ground. 'I am the jailer of the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, Konoha hates me and I'm nearly dead last. I'd like to have friends.' "I like silence," he said then, "and homemade ramen. I dislike the time it takes to prepare the ramen, or when it burns or turns out raw. I dislike being stared at, or people whispering behind my back. My dream…" he closed his eyes, "My dream is…" 'revenge' wasn't the answer. He hated the glares, the whispers, the pettiness of some people, but he couldn't hate all of Konoha. Some people had been kind to him, people like Teuchi and Ayame. The Third Hokage too had helped him a great deal.

Yet he couldn't help but feel that 'becoming Hokage' was no longer his dream. He didn't want, nor he believed he could, become Hokage at all. He'd have more luck with a dream like 'become the new boogeyman of the world' or 'destroy Iwa blind and barehanded'. He just didn't want to remain alone. Was it that difficult? He wistfully used to imagine himself playing games with equally loud children once, but now he would have been fine even without the noise. He would have been fine with barely a friend or two, good friends, to talk to over a cup of tea.

"My dream is…to make friends." He said out loud, "And to keep them no matter what."

Who was he kidding?

People would run from him the moment he told them the truth. The Kyuubi in him would make sure of that. It was enough he could actually walk through the streets! He wondered if anyone had ever tried to kill him because of the beast he held. Maybe they had done so in the orphanage? Maybe that was the reason the Hokage had displaced him into one of the one-room apartments. What if he hadn't wished to become a shinobi? Would he have been left to lead a normal civilian life with a monster in his guts?

He needed to know more, but how? The librarian didn't like him at all…

As he was so lost in thoughts, he hadn't realized the slightly glazed look that had fallen on Sakura's emerald eyes, or the worrisome one on Aoba-sensei. Furthermore, he had also completely missed the curiosity etched on Sai's face, the first true display of emotion the boy had ever shown till then.

"I can be your friend." Sakura blurted that out pretty quickly. Clasping both of her hands on his right one, she smiled. "We can be friends, right?"

"Ehm…right." He replied, uneasy at such a display of forwardness. The girl's eyes were shining with determination by then, as if a fire had been lit in her.

"All right! Let's all be friends!" With a quick lounging motion, Sakura grappled Sai with her other arm, pulling him against her and smiling as their cheeks collided one with the other. In that moment, just as Sakura was pulling the victory sign, a flash of a camera came by.

Naruto snapped his eyes shut a moment later, half wobbling out of the crushing hug just as he heard their sensei speak.

"Well done, _just as planned_." The moment he opened his eyes again, he blearily cast a sour look at the Jounin, who was now standing behind the three of them while a photographer stood instead in front, having taken the picture.

"I'll have the negatives developed in a second." The photographer remarked within a split second, grasping from a tubular pocket in his flak jacket three white papers. He stacked them together beneath the photo that had come out from one of those old cameras that published the film in a second. The next instant, a small swirl of chakra poured from the photo downwards, and when it was done, the photo-shinobi deftly framed all four pictures before handing them out.

Their sensei hummed his approval at how the photos had come out, while he was actually slightly embarrassed. He and Sai both looked as if they had been about to fall against Sakura, who had both arms surrounding their necks and her hands were showing the victory sign, her eyes displaying her happiness. Sai was actually with his eyes open in shock, one of his hands tightly holding onto the scroll he had been painting on earlier.

He on the other hand had his eyes nearly bulged over, but a small smile graced his lips as he was pulled in the 'team' hug. Behind them, putting his index and middle finger to 'hold' his glasses on, Aoba-sensei seemed to be enacting some sort of 'cool' pose while holding a twirling kunai in his hand and a bright and flashing smile.

It actually did look like a pretty team picture. He wouldn't admit it, but this…

He could live with this.

**Author's notes**

**I had to end this with the positive note. I mean, I always end my chapters with angst every now and then, or horrible cliff-hangers…but this seemed just like the perfect end of this chapter. Isn't it heartwarming at the end? I mean, come on! Didn't your heart melt just a little? Think of how much fun they'll have, fighting, living as friends…and then of course having characters deaths send the others on a psychopathic path of mayhem and destruction.**

…

**I'm joking. Of course I am joking. **

**That said, on to the…probable-complaints.**

"**Sakura+Naruto pairing"= I am not sure. I am NEVER sure of a pairing UNTIL the nearly last chapters. If there's a fixed pairing I actually stop writing it. I do not enjoy those stories that put the pairing immediately and then have the characters 'forced' together. (NaruIno= They meet. They meet again. They talk to one another. They meet once more. They meet even more and fall in love because they were meant for one another.) **_**Especially**_** if there are pieces like "My, she had never known how hot he looked!" or similar. With me, you'll have to **_**read**_** the story and **_**hope**_** the things I place in the small bit of writing called 'plot' doesn't kill off any of your hopeful-girlfriends. It can happen. It **_**might**_** happen.**

**Another thing is the following chapters.**

**Now, I don't want to scare anyone off, but I recently read something really interesting. (Notice sarcasm, I enjoy using it)**

_**Shinobi do missions**_**.**

**Naruto shows a few. (I mean…the Wave Arc was only one mission. One mission before the Chuunin exams?) but…I mean…they're not shinobi missions. Genins are little more than pack-mules and 'fixers' and 'hired help'. Chuunins are instead guards, office workers, patrols…the difference in the D-ranks and C-ranks is enormous. A B-rank is even more and an A-rank is far off the charts.**

**So do not expect the Wave Arc to be as you think it will be.**

**Heck, don't expect anything and leave happily.**

**I am not saying 'OC-fest' however. I am just saying 'Be prepared to see Canon characters elsewhere, doing…smart stuff, you know? The things shinobi should be doing?'**

"**So Naruto is going to be infiltration/spec ops/ ultra awesome shinobi of doom *tm*?" I don't have the slightest clue yet. (And if the author says that, one should fear the might of casual randomness) I write where the characters bring me, and what they decide is the path they take. I just write about them, and how they would act depending on what is different.**

"**YOU KILLED TEUCHI YOU LURID BLOOD THIRSTY ASSASSIN OF RAMEN GOODNESS: MAY KHORNE HAVE YOUR SOUL YOU…" All right, all right. Naruto is introverted for a reason, a reason that was hinted and that is now out in the open. He believes himself responsible for Teuchi's death. Meaning that without Teuchi, it's only Ayame at the stall.**

**Such a small thing, the death of a stall vendor.**

**Such a great impact.**

…

"**Is it the only change?" I don't know. For all I know Naruto could wake up tomorrow as a Mist shinobi or as an Iwagakure Kage. He could find himself in the Akatsuki feigning to be an S-rank missing nin or something else. I go with the flow. The flow guides me.**

"**Where is Naruto's anger? Will he have revenge on the villagers?" Naruto's anger is more likely called 'frustration'. Naruto-canon wasn't heavy-handedly attacked, burned to a cross or something else like many in fanon tend to believe. Sort of like Harry Potter and the Dursleys, things are escalated to try and explain how he acts. Like him eating a lot and fast is because food is nicked from him, (which is something I do too, but my reason is because I went to a canteen where the other children seemed voracious locusts rather than human beings and speed meant lunch, kids catch on to that and don't let go. If someone asked me to 'chew a hundred times' I'd look at him and send him to a psychiatric help desk.) **

**In this case, Naruto wasn't manhandled. He wasn't burned or crucified. He has the canon level of mistreatment. Whispers, glares, speaking behind his back, generally annoying him (Like I showed with leaving him without hot water) Things that the Hokage cannot act against, because it's more of a bullying than anything else. **

"**The Hokage should know Teuchi died." Hokage is a bureaucrat. He has to stamp out documents for a 'village' which, by Manga Picture, is a city. A city. The 'council' is only him and his two ex-teammates, with Danzo staying in his place. (You already expected the 'fanon' council, didn't ya!?)**

"**Burn the village! Kill all the evil 'imbecile' villagers!" I never understand the hype in that. I mean…does that hold any sort of meaning? Do people actually like it as a catharsis? I mean…what's the point in writing 'Naruto laughed: kekeke burn village!' 'Oh noez!' 'The village burned. Civilians died. Naruto wins.' Is there something cool in that? What about the children? The newborns? The pregnant women? What about the elderly on their dying breaths? The loving couples? What about the pet dogs or the goldfishes? I displayed it with The Harsh Truth, when Naruto Senju destroys completely Iwagakure: the description tells not a history of win, but of ashes and bitter tastes. **

"**This author's note is long!" Live with it, I prefer to explain my reasoning and answer the comments that brought the questions up.**

**To vikraal: Actually, I meant the 'canon-naruto' and the 'Introverted-Naruto' I-Naruto would slice Canon-Naruto throat, rather than confront him on open ground. I didn't put the pills in the standard pack for Naruto because I thought of them as costly to prepare (Like all medicines) as for purifying water, I think they have Jutsus for it. And the Kunai is actually a really sharp and thin weapon, (There's Black Lagoon as a manga, on one of the later chapters, there's a chinese assassin who actually flings those things. Let me tell you: they're similar to Naruto's but the effect is pretty much like sun and night)**

**The Kill in 12. The problem is that we don't know the date of their first kill (They should add that to the Data Book) for all we know, at six they only had to carry orders around. We can speculate that entering Anbu means 'kills already done' but then…what sane person makes a SIX years old kill? Child soldiers should at least have enough muscles to HOLD their weapons steady. I mean…Six years old…they still wobble mostly. This isn't to say it's wrong…only improbable in my opinion. Maybe they were used as Pack Mules, or within the village as 'fixers' of broken stuff and workforce, which made sense.**


	4. The First Mission is a Revelation

Introverted

_Chapter Four._

The dog waggled its tail as it waited for him to throw the small bouncing ball. The ball was a bright red color, and squeaked with a small sharp whistle every time it was squeezed. He gripped it lightly, before delicately throwing it near the animal. The dog barked, before grabbing the ball with its mouth and biting it repeatedly. A few seconds later, it dropped the ball at his feet again and Naruto grabbed it again.

Dog-sitting: that was their first D-rank mission. D-ranks were the vast majority of missions a village publicized, going as far as having even announcement boards giving the civilians a chance to read of the current prices to hire the ninjas. You wanted a fence painted? You paid fifty ryos. You wanted the dogs brought out for an entire evening? That was seventy-five ryos. You wanted someone to buy the groceries for you, as fast as possible? That was the money for the expense and one hundred ryos.

Shinobi could cut the lines at the market and the stalls after all —being a member of the military had its boons and privileges— and they could take to the rooftops. Naruto's eyes went to his two other teammates. Sakura was somehow holding her ground against a giant husky who wanted to climb a tree, while Sai was instead calmly painting what looked like a half-dumb Corgi breed that lazily took the sun.

He had a basset-hound. The dog actually flopped on his side, waiting to be petted as it looked at him with its perpetually sad-looking face. It barked once, to attract his attention, and then went to peacefully lay there, its eyes fixed on the ball and his free hand.

Aoba-sensei was scribbling on a scroll, his sunglasses every now and then falling down to the tip of his nose, as the man was standing upside down on a branch in pure bat-like fashion. Naruto wondered why the Jounin had to be in that position, but he didn't dare ask. The day was sunny, bright and warm, and all in all it seemed like the perfect example of what a summer vacation looked like. Dog-sitting wasn't much of a chore: the dogs were usually just a bit mischievous, and the only yucky thing was the need to use a plastic bag to collect their excrements if they did any.

The rest of the job was pure and unaltered bliss. The dog didn't judge him, or bark at him angrily, or stare at him angrily. It didn't talk and it certainly didn't seem to be angry at him, differently from his owner of course. Maybe he could buy a dog…but the thought was soon squashed away. Who would sell him one? And even if he got a stray, he didn't count on the poor creature to last much before getting poisoned by _casually_ forgotten rat traps.

Maybe he was just overthinking: it wasn't as if the villagers really wanted to make his life miserable, or went out of their way to do so, but could he risk it? The answer was simple: no.

He couldn't.

"Gather them! We're on schedule!" Their sensei suddenly said, dropping down from his branch and landing softly on his feet. Naruto merely grabbed the leash, before gently standing up and pulling the dog along. Sakura yanked hard, earning a loud yelp from her dog.

"Oh damn it!" she exclaimed, "Naruto, can you help me?"

He raised an eyebrow at that. The girl had chosen the husky because he looked like the least vivacious of the lot. He shrugged and offered his leash to her. The girl smiled as they exchanged them, and the next moment the husky simply fell in line next to him. The dog panted hard, his big tongue out as it breathed and wetted his nose.

"Woof!" it gutturally barked, before following him keenly on his side.

"How did you do that!?" Sakura exclaimed, just as the basset-hound suddenly found its energies and began to run and bark his way forward. "Ehi!" the pink-haired girl was pulled along, as they reconvened near their Jounin-sensei who was actually twitching his lips upwards at such a display.

"Let's bring them back to their owner," Aoba commented, "then we can head over to the training ground."

"Yes, sensei!" Sakura eagerly exclaimed. "Are we going to learn something cool?" the girl happily asked as they began to walk on the street. "Something that, you know, is powerful?"

"Well, you'll see." The Jounin retorted.

"Having a cool and powerful move means nothing, Ugly." Sai's reply was answered with a fist on the side of his face that sent the pale boy flying in the air, before he crashed against the wall of the nearby building. Picking himself up, thankfully with the animal still intact and in one piece, the raven haired boy returned to the group.

"Haruno-san," Aoba remarked curtly, once more chastising with a single word the pink haired girl. "Must I really keep on recalling you like this? You are a kunoichi of Konoha. It is unacceptable for you to manhandle in such a way a comrade." Sakura looked down on the ground, her right foot tracing a line as she looked abashed.

"And you Sai," their Jounin-sensei added then, "Must you really antagonize your teammates? If you have to nickname someone, you should use something positive, rather than something negative."

"I understand sensei," the boy replied. His eyes moved up and down Sakura, as if he was analyzing her. The girl looked disquieted, as her teammate seemed to search for a redeeming feature. She was actually looking nervous, as the boy finally spoke.

"Plank." A nervous tick mark appeared on Sakura's head at that word.

"What do you mean with that?" Sakura asked the question with a sweet tone, underlying a world of pain if the boy answered wrongly. Sai, unheeding the clear signs to shut up, answered promptly.

"You look sturdy with the thick legs and the flat ches—"

"_**SHANNARO**_!"

This time Sai was pummeled to the ground, leaving behind a small crater as Sakura calmed down only in the end. For once Aoba didn't say a word on that, but the man did cough to get back their attention. Sai remained a twitching heap of broken bones for a few more seconds, before wobbling back on his feet.

"Ma—"

"Don't say it," Naruto said, casting him a pleading look. "Just…call her Sakura."

Sai actually brought his head to the side casting him a questioning glance, before nodding to him.

"Sakura." Sai began, and showing a slight surprise when the girl turned around with a frown on her face.

"What?"

"Sakura." The pale skinned boy repeated the girl's name calmly. "I see…it is a redeeming quality." The boy nodded once more.

"Uh? Whatever." The kunoichi shrugged and moved next to their sensei, leaving behind the other two. Naruto raised a quizzical eyebrow, as he waited for Sai to explain his sentence. The other boy actually caught on and pointed out quickly.

"The Cherry plant: she does have pink hair."

Naruto blinked. "Oh, right."

Sai said nothing, and their arrival to the owner of the dogs passed by without incident. It was as they were delivering the dogs that the man, a gruff looking guy in his forties, gave a slight peek under the husky's collar and frowned.

"My poor Bernard has welts! _Welts_! Do you find it funny, boy, to tug on the leash hard huh?" the man snapped towards Naruto, as the boy widened his eyes in surprise.

Since he didn't answer, the man continued. "I'm not going to pay someone who badly handles my dogs! The Hokage will hear about this! My poor Bernard, look how much in pain he is!" the Husky was actually pretty much lazing around in the doorway now, not at all showing his pain.

"Sir, your dog seems—" Aoba tried, but was silenced by the angry words of the man.

"No! He's in pain, badly handled by that demon, that's what it is all about! Wait here!" he quickly entered his home, returning with the scroll that was meant to be compiled and then delivered once the mission was completed, to show the customer's satisfaction. "Here!" the man literally threw it at the Jounin-sensei. "I knew, I just knew I couldn't trust the foul creature."

Then the door slammed shut —hard— leaving the Jounin to blink with an unexpressive face. Sakura's mouth was slightly open in shock, while Sai seemed as emotionless as ever. Naruto on the other hand…

Really, what was he expecting?

His eyes looked down on the ground, as he quickly scrubbed his eyes because they _itched_. He took a small breath, before trying to interest himself on the nearby wall.

"Naruto," Sakura began hesitantly, but he shuddered, thinking at whatever next her words would be. He was saved from answering by their sensei, who quickly snapped.

"Well, let's get going then." Marching quickly, the Jounin began to head towards the tower, and Naruto grasped onto that like a drowning man grasps a floating barrel. He quickly began to follow the man, silently. Behind them, Sakura frowned hard, before looking perplexedly to where Sai had been, and then to where the door of their client was.

She had handled the husky. She knew she might have been hard in her tugging, but she was pretty sure there hadn't been any blood on the collar, or anything even remotely similar to welts on the neck of the big dog. Even if there were, it wouldn't have been Naruto's fault, but hers. She memorized the number of the house, planning to return there later and apologize, maybe offering a cream for welts?

Sakura quickly ran behind the rest of the group, her eyes now settled on Naruto's back. She was puzzled. The man had been outright furious, but to call Naruto those mean words was something that perplexed her. The boy was soft-spoken and mostly silent, and he didn't seem at all like a demon. Wearing his usual clothes, with his hair slowly growing out to the sides, he didn't even _seem_ menacing.

She could make a scarier face than Naruto's, and the whisker marks? They made him look more like a kitten than some sort of dangerous beast. Sai, for all his emotionless face, was probably creepier and scarier than the blond boy. She shook her head: she would ask Naruto afterwards. Maybe proposing an Ichiraku's team lunch?

She could certainly do that, couldn't she? Sure, she was dieting and all for Sasuke's sake, but a bit of a splurge on something light wouldn't be bad. She had heard of a new type of diet soup, and she had been curious about trying it out. It seemed like the perfect solution.

Sai, meanwhile, was feeling something strange. Root taught that reports should always be written sincerely, giving an objective view of events and making sure all details were included. The civilian had delivered his scroll after a few seconds. Unless he had already prepared one, there just was no way he could have written an accurate reporting of how they had treated the man's dogs. To add to the general puzzlement was the fact that the man hadn't even listened to the end of their mission report.

Even on a failed mission, the operatives left time for the surviving shinobi to report, before drawing conclusions on new training schedules. He didn't know what to make of the situation, but he did memorize the name of the street and the number of the house.

Maybe he'd pay a visit later, just to check if perhaps the man was a shinobi who could write really fast, or had a sort of plot to hinder the Genin teams by delivering false status of satisfaction. He probably would have to cut the wires on the house lightning, break a few pipes to make sure there could be a distraction, and then probably smash a couple of windows to give the fault to vandals.

He, of course, would be doing this purely for testing purposes. The fact he felt that the way Naruto had been treated to be unjust was completely _not_ something of concern for him.

Really, he was there only to observe. He wouldn't act on _feelings_.

As they reached the Hokage's tower, Naruto quietly kept to his silence, even after delivering the scroll to the mission office. The shinobi in charge opened the scroll and read it, before frowning slightly and displaying an awry face. He delivered the scroll to the shinobi next to him, who did the same thing before passing it to the Hokage, who brought up an eyebrow and looked towards the group. Naruto flinched, but said nothing as his gaze was kept down.

Sakura was puzzled, especially when the Hokage's gaze went to their teacher, who slightly shook his head. The Hokage made a small smile and imperceptibly nodded. The old shinobi then nodded a bit wider to the Jounin to his side, and the two acknowledged it with their respective nods.

"Very well. The mission was completed successfully; you will all receive the full pay that is due. The amount will be sent to your bank accounts." The Hokage puffed on his pipe, before adding. "Dismissed."

"Hokage-sama." Aoba answered back, before turning to leave. The rest of the group followed outside, and as they left the tower their sensei began to talk.

"Very well! This is our first successful mission, our first D-rank and of course the first earned money of you three: we should thus celebrate this! Where do you want to eat? I'm offering, of course." Their sensei added the last part quickly, looking at them with a small smile.

"We could go to Ichiraku's, sensei." Sakura remarked earnestly, looking towards Naruto's face who was now giving her a curious glance. She just smiled back at him: it wasn't as if this was a big sacrifice on her part. The fact that the blond boy only nodded meekly however made her even more curious on the enigma that was Naruto Uzumaki. Hadn't he insisted the day before on going there? Why was he now so reserved?

"It is fine with me, sensei." Sai answered last and with a nod. The Jounin-sensei shrugged, and began to walk towards the stall, with all the Genins in tow.

"Naruto," Sakura began, "I'm sorry."

"Uh?" he looked at her with perplexity. Surely he understood why she was saying she was sorry?

"I'm going to speak with our client this afternoon, after training. I'll tell him I was the one in charge of the husky for the entire afternoon, and—"

"Don't." Naruto blurted that out quickly. "There's no need." He added slowly. "He already yelled at me: there's no need to have him yell at you too, I'm fine."

"But it's not fair," she retorted.

"It doesn't matter: drop it." He answered curtly, before wincing slightly and turning his gaze sideways. Sakura frowned, but said nothing more. What did the boy have to hide? Maybe the welts had really been there…but she hadn't seen Naruto pull on the leash that hard, and certainly not as hard as her!

The moment they reached Ichiraku's, the silence that had fallen on the group was starting to suffocate her.

"I'm going to take the diet noodle soup, what about you other?" Sakura asked earnestly, trying to make conversation as they sat down at the end of the stall. Naruto stood in the corner, while their sensei stood on the other side with Sai to his right. The pink-haired girl was instead between Sai and Naruto, having already split her chopsticks and beginning to hum in wait.

"I will have Momen-tofu noodles," Sai commented.

"I'll take the miso ramen," their sensei remarked calmly. In the quiet silence that followed, Sakura sported a tick mark on her forehead as she slowly turned to Naruto. The boy was carefully looking through the menu, and with the look of concentration that he held the girl couldn't bring herself to snap at him. His gaze was soft as it scanned through the small one page slip of paper.

Finally he gave a small breath, before replying slowly.

"I'll have the pork ramen."

The way he said it was as if he was fighting a battle against himself. There really was something strange with the boy, but she knew better than to press him on it. She'd just wait: they knew each other only since a couple of days, there was no reason to be nosy about it.

She wondered how Ami and Ino were doing with their teammates. The Ami-stupid-bitch-whore-imbecile was probably fawning around Sasuke-kun with her uncouthness and her horrendous flirty manners. Maybe she was even hugging him, or —kami forbid— kissing him! That wouldn't stand: she'd show her who was meant to melt Sasuke's heart.

At the same time, Naruto was instead quietly waiting for his order. He grimaced slightly as he split his chopsticks. The pork ramen had always been his favorite. He used to take it with extra pork, but since Teuchi had died…he ordered it less and less. The flavor too was different now. Maybe it was just his imagination, but he suspected that Ayame was trying to experiment to get back the taste of the old ramen of her father. It probably involved lemons or almonds, sometimes even sweet.

He grimaced as his order arrived and he began to eat it quietly. This time it tasted like something spicy as it went down his throat, but he kept quiet and ate. This was just another part of his debt, another part of his punishment. Maybe Ayame was doing it on purpose: spicing his food, or giving it strange tastes. It didn't matter. He had a debt to repay and he would repay it…even if it meant eating badly.

"Can I taste it?" the voice startled him, and as he looked to the side he realized Sakura had been the one speaking. Her own soup was half eaten, and she was eying his ramen with a look more of curiosity than hunger.

"I…I'm—" his brain couldn't compute, so it came out with the reasonable answer he could give. "No." He then quickly scarfed it down as the girl berated him.

"Hey! It was an honest question! Sheesh!" Sakura harrumphed, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked at him with distaste. He said nothing as he cleaned the plate.

"You ordered the diet soup," he pointed out. "Next time, don't."

Naruto merely sighed. He simply didn't want the girl to realize the taste was slightly off. It wouldn't do well for the business. He coughed slightly, as the spiciness soon passed through his throat and cleared out. He weakly smiled back to Ayame, who was looking at him with a slightly perplexed gaze.

Once lunch was done, the group left the stall and headed towards their training ground, Naruto staying quietly in the back, his gaze downwards.

"Really, how rude can you be?" Sakura muttered between herself, as she gave another eyeful to the blond boy. She hadn't expected him to be that rude on food: maybe he was just a glutton? He had eaten awfully fast after all. Still she couldn't compare that to the kindness of just a few moments earlier. It wasn't as if he had been the one to pay for the food, so stinginess wasn't the problem.

Training ground thirteen was quiet as always as they reached it. Aoba-sensei flexed his muscles and loosened his shoulders, before turning around to stare at his Genins.

"Now, there is an important lesson to learn before we can begin training. I want you all to listen to me carefully, understood?"

The three students nodded, their eyes staring straight ahead at the Jounin.

"A shinobi is a _prepared_ force," the man spoke calmly. "Improvising on the battlefield is good and well, but it is the sign of a _poor_ ninja. Shinobi, no matter their rank, must prepare carefully for their missions. We are a hidden force, who work for money and thus might be tasked one day with retrieval of hostages, and the next day with kidnappings. We might be asked to kill or to protect, to guard or to demolish. We might be asked to infiltrate or to counterspy. Shinobi must thus be prepared for any occasion and chance. If you are not prepared, then you fail as a ninja."

The wind gently picked up, a cool breeze passing through Sakura's long hair as she listened in attentively to the Jounin's words. Naruto remained quiet, his face grim but determined, while Sai kept his façade schooled into a perfect lack of emotions.

"A shinobi's work is done quickly and flawlessly," Aoba added. "If you are tasked with retrieving a hostage, then you must do so as fast as possible and without committing mistakes. This brings us to the shinobi rule that a mission must always be completed: if you have to blow up a heavily guarded bridge, suicide bombing is a solution you _must_ envisage."

Sakura gulped anxiously.

"A shinobi is a member of the military. You may be called at all hours of the day and of the night to assist in missions, and should war begin you _will_ be deployed. The corps _cannot_ be left until life threatening injuries or old age. You are hereby a member of Konohagakure no Sato's Shinobi force, and from this moment onwards you will remain as such until death. You may not transfer into another country, you may not refuse the Hokage's orders, and you may not leave your assigned positions. You will obey your commander, always."

Three hesitant nods came from the Genins, and Aoba sighed.

"A Genin is the name to define lower Nins: those not tasked with important secrets or techniques. As Genins, you will be outfitted with the basic tools of the trade and unless you possess a clan, and a member of said clan who might impart onto you his or hers skills, you will not learn any more Jutsus until you make Chuunin."

Aoba took a small breath. "This isn't to say there is nothing I can teach you: the basics are an important part of the shinobi world, and those who master them will always have an easier time than the rest. The proper usage of tools is also something you will learn from me, as well as engagement tactics and the means to achieve your missions. The real training, both in elemental affinity and advanced techniques, starts once you reach the rank of Chuunin."

"Doesn't that mean clan children are advantaged?" Sakura asked with a slight frown.

"Yes, but also no," Aoba replied. "Clans tend to develop specific techniques, in which they certainly excel. Hyugas are an example of short range combat, while the Yamanaka's mind techniques are optimal for interrogation use. Yet outside of their area they are extremely limited in options. The Hyuga's eye can see everywhere around them, but if the opponent does not close in, it consumes chakra needlessly."

"But they have more options than we do! They can learn techniques and—"

"And they ignore others." Aoba shook his head slowly, before taking out from within his jacket a scroll. "You all will learn Kenjutsu. You all will learn Shurikenjutsu. You all will learn Taijutsu, Genjutsu-countering and Ninjutsu theory. You will learn how to control and refine your chakra, and how to use it in shinobi situations. You will learn how to properly care for your tools and how to properly treat wounds. Maybe you will not learn how to enter the mind of an opponent, but you will learn how to torture one." Aoba smiled slightly. "I do work for the Torture and Interrogation department, after all."

Aoba looked at his Genins then, evaluating their reactions to his words. Naruto winced slightly, probably understanding the seriousness of the situation, but remained quiet. Sakura seemed appeased, probably reiterating mentally her desire to grab 'Sasuke-kun', and sporting now a smile on her face. Sai…Sai was puzzling him. The Jounin knew something was wrong with the pale skinned boy. For one thing, he was too much composed and collected. His features were schooled as if he had received extensive training in controlling his emotions, and the lack of tone in his words was making him think he was actually ignorant, when saying 'ugly' as a nickname and considering it endearing.

The Third Hokage had told him the boy was a Root failure, but he wondered to himself what precisely that meant. He'd find out soon enough.

"First of all, a shinobi must possess equal parts of Earth and Heaven. Today I will spar with each of you and see where you stand with Earth, which means the body." The Jounin took then a loose stance, as if this was nothing but routine.

"Come at me without overly thinking. Sakura, you're first."

As the pink-haired girl nodded, taking on the stocky basic stance the academy taught, Naruto watched with a horrible grimace as the girl was unable to land even a single hit on the man. Not that her form was bad —it was actually perfect textbook form— or that she wasn't trying, but the difference in skill was something clear.

Sai went next, and the boy actually showed a sort of remarkable attitude in throwing punches, kicks and closing in as much as possible, as if nearly pressing oneself against the opponent was an agreeable tactic. Their sensei said nothing during the spar, albeit that with Sai lasted a bit more before the boy winded down.

Finally, it was his turn.

He settled into the stance, and began to fling his own punches and kicks. Aoba looked at him with a frown, and what seemed like the start of a distasteful look. His arms began to tremble, as he shuddered hoping there wouldn't be a glare soon enough. Thankfully, his own practice lasted far less than that of Sakura.

"All right." Aoba sighed, shaking his head slowly. "Sai: you're fine. Sakura, you should be less tense and more fluid in your movements." The Jounin's gaze then went to Naruto. "Naruto…yours is horrible. I think you should simply forget about entering a Taijutsu match for the moment. I'm sorry, but it's too time consuming to get you ingrained or back on par with the others. You just can't develop muscle memory overnight and unluckily there are three of you and one of me. I can't waste time on breaking your bad habits and not training your other two teammates."

Naruto opened his mouth, probably to say something back, to try and give an excuse for his pitiful stances, but then he just closed it and made a grim smile as he nodded.

"Very well: during the time I'll be training your teammates in Taijutsu, I'll have you started on Shurikenjutsu." Aoba remarked, "Fair's fair: I can't have you killed either once we start taking missions outside of the village, and as it is it's far better if we simply let your Taijutsu drop until you reach Chuunin, were the more advanced styles are available." The Jounin shrugged. "This isn't to say you can't try and learn by yourself, but your bad habits are probably ingrained since the time of the academy. Didn't anyone ever correct you on your mistakes?"

No, nobody had. The teachers had never taught wrongly, since after all the classes were holding far too many students for the sensei to wish them all misfortune, but that didn't mean they couldn't simply ignore his mistakes and let him go. That was probably the only reason there was he was incapable at Taijutsu. Not because he had been trained badly or wrongly, but because he hadn't been _corrected_ at all.

He shrugged it off, averting his gaze as he felt the burns of embarrassment run through his body. What was he standing there taking the heat for? So he sucked at Taijutsu, all right! Did he have to say it in front of his teammates too?

"I'll take that silence as a no," Aoba said. "Let me guess: you're now thinking I'm humiliating you in front of your teammates for no reason, right?"

Naruto looked up, staring in surprise at Aoba who simply chuckled back, albeit the chuckle was dry, and not at all showing humor.

"It's wrong. I am not humiliating you for starters: just telling the truth. And there is a reason I'm telling your shortcomings to your teammates: because they too will have theirs. I already know Sakura's stamina is extremely pitiful, and Sai's lack of initiative might be a problem: there might be much more I have yet to see, but the point is that teammates should know one another's weaknesses and shortcomings to be able to _cover_ for them. There always is someone lacking in Taijutsu, or with low chakra, or without stamina in a peer group. The important thing is not to hide it, so that the team might be able to help if the need arise. For example," Aoba coughed slightly, "if an enemy shinobi were to attack you in close quarters, both Sakura and Sai would know you'd go down fast unless one of them decided to come and help you. Out of the two, Sai would be the one who should come, but if Sai is in a pinch, then it's Sakura who has to enter the fray. This is a split second decision on the battlefield, something that however must be planned as a contingency months earlier."

Aoba nodded to himself as he spoke, smiling as he saw the looks of understanding coming from the Genins.

"This is what is important. Acknowledging one's own strengths and weaknesses. Having the correct _Seishin_, the correct heart, is the first rule of the Shinobi. Without it, you will not possess the maturity required for the work you will have to do. Remember this, and _just as planned_ you will become Chuunins and Jounins…"

The Jounin took a deep breath then, closing his eyes as he smirked slightly. He had truly given a wonderful speech, the product of careful deliberation and planning. He knew he had conquered the hearts of his students now: there was simply no way they would remain unfazed by what he had told them. Now he would train them into the perfect students, hopefully keeping them alive until they reached Jounin rank.

There were no wars out in the open, thus he actually _had_ the chance to get his entire team to survive, at least until the first Chuunin exams. Not that he'd let them participate in those in Konoha: it would be too soon, and he truly doubted they'd be able to get past the first test, whatever it was going to be.

"Sensei?" Sakura asked, as Aoba opened his eyes then keeping his smile on the face. "Can we go now?"

"Y-Yes, of course. Tomorrow morning, seven o'clock, in front of the Hokage tower." Aoba stammered, as he realized that while his Genins did look thoughtful, they weren't looking at him as a source of inspiration. He'd have more inspiring dialogues to plan and script then: how could he become one of the most recognized Jounin instructors if he didn't? Only because Ebisu had gotten his hands on training the nephew of the Hokage…the next issue of Shinobi monthly would have _him_ as the perfect instructor!

Sakura waved goodbye to both Sai and Naruto, before heading off towards their client's house. She would clear the misunderstanding, whether Naruto wanted the apologies or not it didn't matter: what was right was right. She smiled to herself as she knocked on the door of the civilian in question, and patiently she began to wait. A few minutes later, the door creaked open to reveal the gruff man, who looked at her with a perplexed gaze.

"Well? What do you want?" the man asked curtly.

"I'm sorry sir: I just wanted to apologize for—"

"There's no need." The man quickly said, cutting her off, "It's not _your_ fault you've been saddled with the demon as a teammate." The civilian sighed, before shaking his head. "I can't tell you anything about it, secret shinobi stuff and all, but you should watch out for him. He's bad, really bad. He's got evil inside you know? He might look human, but he isn't." The man shook his head. "He took my wife; that he did, twelve years ago."

Sakura's eyes bugged wide open. Naruto killed the man's wife? H-How!? No, that didn't make sense. The boy had to have been what, one year old? She didn't even know when he had been born to begin with.

"Can't tell you anything, girl. Law is the law." The civilian added, nodding to himself. "Ten of October, my wife's death that is. Wicked evil inside that boy: let me tell you."

Sakura's eyes widened as she realized just what the Tenth of October _was_ about.

"But that's…that's the day of the Kyuubi's attack." Sakura's murmur was barely audible, but the wicked smile on the man's face told her she had hit the nail on the head. Something wicked was inside Naruto, something that had killed the man's wife, the same day of the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha.

"That's _your_ opinion," the civilian nodded thoughtfully, "but the rest of the village knows and cannot tell. I didn't tell you anything after all. Careful now: wouldn't want to break an S-rank secret." And then the door closed, leaving a pale and still Sakura in the porch of the house.

The kunoichi wobbled back on the street, her eyes blinking. Naruto was the Kyuubi. No, Naruto had the Kyuubi within him. Naruto held the demon that had nearly destroyed Konoha within his stomach.

She clenched her hands. This was a secret she wasn't meant to know. An S-rank secret meant death on revelation. She had to keep quiet about it…but how was that possible? She had to hit the library: she had to find out if Naruto was dangerous or not. Still, it explained why the man had mistreated Naruto that badly. Had she lost her parents to the Kyuubi…maybe she would have hated Naruto too.

Not knowing what to think, she missed the narrow eyes of Sai, who was standing quietly on the second floor of the civilian's house. Having entered the home of the man earlier, he had proceeded to cast a mild Genjutsu on the man, making sure he would say precisely what he wanted him to. He couldn't risk Sakura breaking in the middle of a mission if Naruto decided to reveal that bit of information on him during the trip. If the girl, after saying she wanted to be his friend, renounced him just the following day…

It would be the perfect test on whether the Jinchuuriki was a failure as a shinobi or not.

He was a failure because he still felt some twinge of emotion, and for Danzo-sama that was a horrible trait for a shinobi. Naruto was a failure for different reasons, but one thing the boy had to possess: mental fortitude. Jinchuurikis had to be psychologically sane, or they were nothing more than dangers for their own villages. There just wasn't another choice. Still, Sai shrugged and then unsheathed his Tanto.

The civilian had just revealed enough for it to warrant the breaking of the S-rank secret.

And the punishment for that was death.

**Author's notes**

**And another chapter goes by. Now, Naruto by canon is bad at Taijutsu. Rather than have him being taught badly by the teachers (Classes are in common with others 'individually' training him badly would be counterproductive and easily seeable) they simply let his mistakes go. Just like Mizuki did to 'pass' Naruto: he was subtler. He had him pass so that he could get killed on a mission, rather than just keep on failing him and so on.**

**One thing that always surprises me is the lack of SUBTLETY some fics have about the people who hate Naruto. Now, it is clearly shown how the most the 'civilians' do is just to glare and point. In a 'flashback' pic, Naruto flungs at a shinobi his cup of ramen since he's being talked badly about, and then runs away. The shinobi doesn't pursuit him or anything. He is **_**mostly**_** viewed as an annoyance. The rare circumstances of 'full-out' hatred are where? Nowhere. Naruto isn't manhandled. He isn't crucified or with broken bones, but he is talked badly about, even when he is in earshot. **

**Concerning Sai, he is what I'd like to consider a sort of blank slate made of post-break down in the military, which has to be rebuilt from scratch. He acknowledges the fact that he should do something against injustice not out of righteousness, but because mission reports should be objective. He still holds 'feelings' somewhere, which is why he is puzzled. **

**Sakura on the other hand is still a Sasuke-fan, but since she doesn't have a Sasuke nearby, and Naruto isn't yelling at her for a date or calling her 'Sakura-chan!' every two seconds, she is largely tolerable and far more like the Canon Naruto. (Which is true: they have a lot of similarities in the character concept, the both of them)**

**What Aoba says to Naruto is basic: muscle memory is something that grows with time, and the more time you do it wrong the longer it takes to remove it. That's why trainers prefer ignorant people than those who have already trained: they might have been doing something wrong, and habits are hard to break. Now it might seem bizarre for Aoba to 'postpone' Naruto's Taijutsu relearning, BUT:**

**D and C ranks are the missions for Genins. The most a C-rank shows is possible brigand presence. Meaning that: as a shinobi, brigands can be taken care of with anything short of a stick. (and if it's a pointy stick then it's open to debate) And while he could train Naruto in the basics once more, he doesn't see the point: once he becomes a Chuunin he would still have to relearn everything.**

**As I view it, 'Chuunin' is the highest percentage rank of shinobi present in Konoha. If there are, yearly, 20% of Genins, there is something like 70% Chuunins, 9% Jounins and 1% Anbu. That is because Chuunins are in the infrastructure of the city as office workers, information, patrols, police, bulk of the missions going from C rank to B rank and A rank. While Jounins are usually required for high profile missions like high-end A ranks and S ranks. **

**The words of Aoba on 'having the correct heart' come from the only book on shinobi arts I found online (May the Internet be praised)**

**Now for the Q&A**

**To pucflek: you aren't annoying me at all. The point is that we don't know how they 'fought'. Let's put it like this: child soldiers of these days have Aks and fight flinging grenades, or themselves, against the enemy checkpoints. In the Naruto world, we can have them camouflaged as civilian children, flung against the enemy checkpoint, and have them use the substitution jutsu to disappear and leave behind explosive tags. We can have them use tags (written by other shinobis) to create fires in the cities, or we can have them wreck the fields of enemy nations. There are a lot of way you can use children in warfare, and most of them with little risk since the enemy 'can't be everywhere'. However I think the principal way 'Kakashi' child killed was by surprise. If you're six years old, you have what, two-three years of experience? What about an eighteen year old shinobi? He has more than you certainly, but taking him by surprise works. That's the point in shinobi battles: it's the surprise element that decides the winner 'he who strikes first' and so on.**

**To vikraal: that's what I wanted to point out. If shinobi truly hate Naruto, or want him dead, they would use far more subtle means than the mere 'charge ahead and die in glory when the Anbus get at you'. Which is why this story will have smarter-than-canon shinobi and enemies…(Anyone realize that Mizuki is still around, right? Oh you will **_**love**_** to see what he is going to do!) Madara-Tobi-Obito is still there, albeit I hope that, by the point I reach that part of the story, Naruto (manga) will finish that particular arc of flashbacks.**

**Which, by the way as a little bit: I was right in portraying Tobirama as evil. He truly was. See? The Harsh Truth has a canon-compliant Tobirama! Take that! (Chuckles.)**

**Now, on the question of pairing. As always I am for the 'live and let live'. I write for plot, pairing adds sometimes and detracts others. I'd rather write plot than pairing fluff. (Even when Anko-Naruto was in Harsh Truth, it was mostly PLOT-related rather than 'fluff' stuff.) That's why usually pairings tend to happen towards the 1) age of majority of characters 2) towards the end of my stories. Earlier than that and everything and everyone is fair game to a horrible and horrendous death by terrible means of gore. **_**Really**_**.**

**Of course, if I make smarter-than-average shinobi, I'll have to make a smarter-than-average Kyuubi…which is really easy. No, seriously, I'm surprised at how much nobody realizes there is a drastic flaw in putting the Kyuubi into a living being…and letting them speak to one another. (And after watching the flashback of Kurama with both Kushina and Mito…really, those two were **_**horrible**_** people. The poor bloke of Kurama was possessed by the sharingan and yet you still keep him shackled and chained when he is as much of a victim as the village? Woe to you, woe to you!)**

**I think I answered the major points.**

**Oh, of course…**

"**What is he going to summon?" …certainly NOT dragons. Or phoenixes. Or mystical magical animals that seem to shine chakra-power out of their fairy wings. I have an idea on it already…let's see how well it plays out with what Naruto wants to do.**

**To the guys who realized that this chapter contains little Naruto talking or actions: **_**Introverted**_**. The title. You know…he'll talk. Eventually. **


	5. The Second Mission is Shocking

Introverted

_Chapter Five._

Naruto flinched as the sparks nearly singed his gloves. The broken electrical cable dangled near him, but the power had been cut off for them to work on it. The job wasn't dangerous or difficult, but it did contain a slight amount of risk with all the static electricity that lingered in the air. His hair had all frizzed up, just like Sakura's. Sai's short cut had saved him from the embarrassment, but that didn't mean sparks weren't flying out of their bodies whenever they touched something.

The transformer was in a corner of the room, filled with cables and piles of batteries. Some of them had leaks, and that meant they had to remove and put them aside, grab new ones and substitute them. Once that was done, and after checking for broken or damaged cables, they would relight the entire thing and be done with it. Naruto half-heartedly hissed as a shock passed through his gloves and reached his hand, making him wince and remove the limb from the cable. Hadn't they discharged the damn things?

He watched as Sakura fatigued in bringing one of the giant batteries towards the transformer, and bit his lip. He moved closer to her and, after a brief indecisive moment, said.

"Hey, Saku—" the girl eeped, letting go of the battery as she took half a step backwards. He quickly grabbed the battery before it could fall, and then looked at her with perplexity.

"W-What is it, Naruto?"

"Want to go and grab the new cables? I can take care of the batteries too…" his voice trailed off as he watched the fearful look of Sakura averting his gaze. He felt sick: did the girl know? When had she been told? Who had told her? Why?

He didn't want to think about that, so he simply grabbed the battery and moved it to its socket within the transformer, before returning to weeding out the rusty or broken cables. He eyed Sakura then, and tensed as the girl began to move, sort of mechanically, towards the other corner of the room. She passed near Sai, and he tensed. What if she told the truth to Sai, or to their Sensei?

Well, the Sensei knew and he hadn't acted any differently. Sai however…he was usually so emotionless, would he _care_? Would that actually make him snap and turn bitter against him?

"Dickless, careful." He snorted. He highly doubted Sai would actually 'snap' or do anything. The boy was mostly a robot. "Warn me, when you insert the batteries they start charging. Remove the cable without checking and you might electrocute yourself." The raven haired boy droned on.

He was actually wondering if that was his 'concerned' tone. He gave a side glance to Sai, before nodding to him and then gulping anxiously. All the broken cables had now been removed, and for safety measures also the damaged ones that would be checked and if possible repaired.

Their sensei was watching from the doorway, keeping one hand on a metal bar that stood from the ground, probably to avoid statics. The batteries changed and the broken cables yanked, Naruto turned to where Sakura was piling the new cables, a fearful distance away from him. Sai on the other hand was moving to the commands of the relay station.

Electricity in Konoha worked with batteries made with special elements that as Genins they weren't privy of. There was some sort of secret mixture, highly flammable and acidic in nature, which easily corroded the copper used to laminate the batteries. The moment Naruto began to attach the cables, Sai, _mistakenly_ —at least in the blond boy's opinion— flicked a button he wasn't meant to.

Naruto gave out a loud howl of pain as he was literally forced to suffer through an electric discharge of many volts higher than the mere static jolt. He felt his skin burn on the point of contact and through his body, as it ran towards the ground using him as a discharger. Sakura stared in horror as electricity danced around the boy, passing through him repeatedly as it headed towards the ground.

Sai was fast in turning off whatever button he had pressed, but the damage was already done. Naruto fell on the ground, his muscles twitching as his entire body was wracked with spasms. Their sensei reached for the boy as fast as he could, hissing as he brought him outside.

"I'll bring Naruto to the hospital! Sakura, Sai, stop working and wait for my return!"

As the Jounin quickly left, leaving behind a worried Sakura and Sai, another figure hidden on a nearby building merely stood up and shunshin'd away, to warn its master of the plan entering the second stage.

Sakura, remaining behind with Sai, felt torn.

She had spent the morning watching over Naruto, trying to come up with something —anything really— that could prove him the holder of the Kyuubi. The boy didn't look like a fox. He didn't look like a towering demon and except for his insistence in eating his own ordered food —which had some justification to start with— there was nothing in him of inherently evil.

If anything, the boy took the hard jobs without complaints: it could have been her in place of Naruto. She had fatigued in moving the batteries, since their size and weight was considerable, and he had offered to swap. She had accepted with a frightened look in her eyes and because of that she just knew that she had given away her knowledge of his…condition.

The look on the boy's face had been of hurt, but he hadn't said a word afterwards. He had just taken on both the replacing of the cables and the placing of the batteries. He hadn't spoken a single word to her during his entire work, giving off fearful glances whenever she went off near their sensei or Sai, but never saying a word.

It made her feel dirty.

It was as if Naruto feared she would do something that would hurt him badly.

"You know?" Sai suddenly asked from her side, making her turn her head quickly to where the boy was.

"I know…what?" she hesitantly chuckled, trying to hide her nervousness and failing. "What is it that I should know, Sai?"

"Dickless, you know." Sai pressed on. She felt a creeping chill settling on her bones, as the boy's eyes fixed on her with their usual lack of emotions. "You know of his status."

"Sai? H-How do _you_ know about it?"

"Not relevant, Haruno-san." Sai's retort came calm and composed, but the way he said her surname didn't make her feel any better. "Not relevant is how I know your parents' occupations and their time schedules. Not relevant is what happens if you tell. S-rank secret revelation has a death sentence…you know that, of course."

"Sai…who are you?" she whispered in fear, as the boy merely shrugged.

"I am Sai Satou. That is my name."

"You're not really a Genin, are you?" she said, taking a step backwards. She didn't fear Naruto now: she feared Sai. Whoever he was, he truly was scarier and creepier than Naruto.

"Who I am is unimportant." The boy took a few steps closer to her, before whispering. "What you do however…is."

She was saved from answering by the return of their sensei. The man had been fast! She sighed in relief at his sight, clutching her hands to her chest.

"Naruto will have to remain in the hospital for a few days," their sensei said, "it might even be a few weeks too. Sai, you should go and apologize to him tomorrow. I also want you to head to the library today, and get a good read of electrical systems. I will question you on what you did wrong tomorrow, so don't skive off!"

Sai nodded, making his eerie smile towards her, before running off.

"Sensei," Sakura hesitated, as she gazed into her sensei's sunglasses. She hadn't been dismissed, but—

"Sakura, I'm sorry to say this, but I need to ask you some questions concerning yesterday."

She froze. What did her sensei want to know? Had they actually been watched when the civilian had practically revealed to her Naruto's condition.

"Ayomoro Hiruga was found dead this morning. Eye-witnesses said that you were one of the last who saw the man alive. Is that true?"

Sakura's stomach lurched and twisted as a wave of uneasiness settled on her. She grimaced as she nodded weakly. Sai wasn't lying. If she told their sensei about his menaces…she would probably lose her parents.

Meanwhile, Naruto was twitching in bed, his hands loosely strapped to the side to avoid him hurting himself. He couldn't even talk, his mouth blocked so that he wouldn't chew his own tongue. The nurses and the doctors were commenting on how much of a rare case he was, of having awakened so soon after the electroshock. He tried to close his eyes, as tears streaked down his face.

Today was truly a horrible day to be him.

He didn't doubt he'd be fine within a week, but that would basically nullify his advantage on learning Shurikenjutsu or Kenjutsu from his teacher. In the time it would take for him to heal, maybe his teammates would already reach a higher level than him and he would be the one who would need to catch up.

He was debating such things, when the man in the bed next to him turned his only eye to look at him. The man was old, and half his face was covered into bandages. A wooden cane stood in a corner, and he was probably the classical example of the lone old man. He had a plastic cup with two fingers of water within, and a set of pills on his bed desk.

"Oh my," he spoke with a slightly worried face. "What happened to you?"

He would have answered, if only his teeth weren't clattering against the wooden mouth-piece. The man slowly stood up with a huff, breathing raggedly as it grabbed his cane and walked over to his side.

"Ah…I knew it. Saw a lot of this during my times in the war." The old man spoke to himself, as he flipped through his medical chart. "I suppose it's to be expected…but not even giving you a sedative?" he frowned at that, shaking his head. "My, you must be suffering. Do you want me to try and make it better?"

The pain that flared through his sore nerves was something out of hell. It was probably because of the pain that Naruto tried his desperate best to plead a 'yes' with his head and his gaze. The man nodded and moved closer, and the boy saw how one of the elder's arms was in a sling. Had the old man gone through a blender or something, to become like that?

"These are war wounds," the shinobi commented. "I suffered so many they retired me from active service after the war with Kumogakure." His working hand was gently placed on Naruto's chest and suddenly, the boy's spasms stilled.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. How had the man done that!?

"Wind is strong against Electricity." The old man replied, as he gently unclasped the mouth piece that was holding Naruto's mouth close. "I sent my wind-laced chakra through your body, expelling the electricity within," he explained. "It is far more difficult than what I'm telling you, but it's as good of an explanation as it is for the moment."

Then the old man coughed slightly, bringing his hand to cover his mouth. Quietly, he unclasped the closest of Naruto's bindings before returning to his bed. Naruto undid the other, and then wincing got up to sit on his bed.

"Thanks." He whispered, looking at the man who merely smiled back.

"I saw too many die in the war because of Electrical Jutsus…too many were nothing more than Genins, and far more died before anything could be done. Konoha never had many Wind-affinity shinobi, and the level of control required to expel Electricity from one's body without damaging the brain or a body's nerves…that too is something rare."

"Oh." The boy said, his gaze silently falling to stare at the old man's injuries. Even in those conditions, the man had still gone out of his way to help him. "Thank you again."

"There's no need," the other man said with a small smile. "I admit I was selfish in helping you: I wanted someone to chat with while waiting for my nurse to come and order me around a bit." He whispered with a conspirator-like tone. "She's evil, let me tell you that."

"Ah…I'm sure she just wants what is best for you." Naruto diplomatically replied, fiddling with his hands and fumbling his thumbs as he looked at the bed sheet. "Neh, sir, can I ask you a question?"

"It is 'may I ask you a question' and the answer is yes, you may." The old man replied calmly.

"You know who I am, right?" he whispered, wincing. "You read my name and…well you're old enough to—"

"Yes, I know what you are, and I know what you hold." The old man nodded gravely as he spoke. "This does not make me any less amiable in your regards however, I know what a Jinchuuriki is, and I know that the Yondaime would never make a shoddy seal to hold the Kyuubi at bay."

"So you don't hate me?" he asked meekly, looking with his blue eyes wide open at the old bandaged man.

"No," the man replied. "You are a victim, just like everyone else is. Some people might be blind to the truth, but that doesn't make it any less real."

The old man smiled then, and winked with his only eye.

"To judge a mass by the few individuals that stand out is wrong. What is important is that where there are people who are ignorant, there are also people who aren't."

"I never met them." He whispered.

"You live in the one-room apartments for shinobis right?" the man asked, before continuing. "That's closer to the orphanage and the civilian sector. Not that there is actually a divider between the shinobi one and the civilian one, mind you…it's just a way of saying, but civilians don't usually pick on Fuinjutsu. So they have no idea of what seals really are or how powerful they can be. So when they see you, they think that all that stands between the Kyuubi rampaging again and them is some ink drawn in strange patterns…anyone would fear that."

"But he…it, the demon…he never spoke to me."

"Better that way then, right?" the man replied. "If he had, it would mean the seal was shoddy. This proves more than ever that it isn't going to fail any time soon."

"Yeah." Naruto smiled hesitantly. "You're right."

"Oh but, where are my manners…" the old man suddenly said. "I forgot to introduce myself, didn't I? My name is Danzo Shimura. I was a Jounin of Konoha before the war took away the use of my arm and nearly deprived me of my legs…"

"Ah, I'm Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto, Shimura-san." He actually replied earnestly. This was the most he had ever talked to someone since Teuchi's death, and he felt some sort of elation at being able to do so. "I…well, I'm a Genin. I'm going to become a Chuunin soon though, b—"

His voice trailed off abruptly, soon followed by a grimace on his face.

"I'll…I'll try my hardest."

"I'm sure you will." Danzo nodded with a small grin. "Well, tell me, what team are you in and who is your sensei?"

With those words, Naruto found himself talking with the old man with a grin on his face. The man wasn't judging him, even though he knew what he was. For that alone, he'd talk to him.

Meanwhile, in training ground number three, Kakashi Hatake was looking with a half-narrowed eye at his own Genins.

The civilian girl, Ami, was a complete mess. The Inuzuka yelled out loud every time the Uchiha did something better than him, and since —except for Taijutsu— the dog-user had little to offer, it meant that Kiba yelled most of the time. Sasuke on the other hand was scowling. He was scowling both because of the girl who seemed to do her best to stick at him or press herself against him, and also because the Inuzuka and his pet dog were starting to annoy him.

Maybe he could poison the puppy, Akamaru.

Kakashi coughed slightly, but since that didn't work to get his team's attention, he sighed and took out his _Icha-Icha Feral Threesome _and began to read out loud.

"Oh no, Tzume-chan, not now! I am sweaty after a long run!" he mock-read, immediately earning the complete and utter silence of his three Genin. "Oh Zana-chan, not you too! You and your older sister that clearly doesn't look like your mother are so tightly pressed against my wonderful sweaty body that I feel I am about to—"

"What the hell!?" Kiba yelled, seeing red. "What the fuck is that smut!?"

"Uhm, you said something?" Kakashi remarked, peering from his book to gaze at the now open-mouthed Inuzuka.

"Are we going to train, Kakashi?" Sasuke asked, scowling as he gave a look of disgust at the Inuzuka.

"Oh yes, yes…" he mumbled, returning to his book. "Try and spar two against one. Ami and Kiba, go against Sasuke."

Then he flipped the page of his book, ignoring what his students were doing.

He actually wondered why the Hokage had refused to give him the son of his sensei. He knew why he could not meet the boy earlier: being a Jinchuuriki, he was basically a powerful instrument of Konoha from birth. The Third Hokage had managed to make him live through a normal childhood, but in order to do that he had appeased the civilian population by keeping all shinobis away from Naruto's upbringing.

That had lasted until the academy, but from that moment onwards…

Yes, Kakashi had held cold feet from that moment forward.

What was he meant to say? 'Listen kid, I knew your father, but I can't talk about it because there's a law in place oh and by the way I'm an Anbu, so I can't tell you anything of who lies behind my mask or what I do for a living most of the time.' He rolled his eye as he flipped another page.

He _wasn't_ actually reading the book. He was just hoping someone would catch on that he was holding it upside-down. He was sure Naruto would have caught on. Aoba had described him as a quiet and ingenious boy, just like the Yondaime had been. So what if he had horrible grades? The boy should have been his to train. He was sure he would have caught on with the underneath the underneath thing.

Not like this bunch of imbeciles.

He was actually starting to feel sickened, and wondered why he hadn't failed them.

Of course he knew the reason. For one thing, Kiba had actually no trouble working with Ami, since the girl's Queen Bee personality was in full force whenever she wanted something done by someone else…and the boy was so terribly weak to flirting that it made Kakashi wonder how he would fair against a kunoichi. Sasuke on the other hand…

He was still unsure how the three of them had decided to work together. Probably because the time was running short, they had decided on a 'who gets the bell gets the bell' thing, and had attacked him all three at once. Of course he had tied Ami to the stump, and of course the girl had made wide sorry eyes at the Inuzuka for some food. And since Sasuke actually knew the Inuzuka was more useful with a full stomach than an empty one, he too had offered something to the girl.

His words on team-working? Disappeared from their brains after five minutes, three on the Inuzuka and probably one and half on Sasuke.

He wondered if maybe, just maybe, he could fail his team afterwards. Denounce the girl for being a traitor of Iwa and disappear into the forest was starting to become more and more endearing, especially when he realized the two against one had become a one against one. Ami was now looking at his hair, again, and was probably going to ask him, again, where he had found the silver dye.

Maybe he could pass off their deaths as training accidents?

Maybe he could…he just had to play it smart.

As Kakashi debated the murder of his students, Asuma and Kurenai were having a mixed training day with their own Genins. Of course the reason was just to enforce in-between team friendship, and clearly not because the two longed to be with one another.

Asuma frowned slightly, before taking out a cigarette and lightning it.

"Shikamaru is sleeping," he mumbled. "What a lazy brat."

"Should you wake him up?" Kurenai said, her crimson eyes looking with a slight layer of disgust at the lazy Genin. "How did you pass them to begin with?"

"Tradition and politics," Asuma remarked. "The same way you passed your team, I suspect."

"No," she sniffed haughtily. "Had they failed, I would have failed them without concerns."

"Really?" Asuma's right eyebrow rose. "Mah." He took a puff of his cigarette, which hanged loose from his lips. "What's with Hibachi then? He looks like a stick was stuck up his ass."

"Asuma!" Kurenai chided, looking affronted. "He suffers from a superiority complex being smashed. He thought he was going to have it easy since his father is a Shinobi, but then he ended up with two clan children…" the woman's voice trailed off. "He's having a hard time facing the truth."

Asuma merely shrugged.

"If you say so." Then the man frowned —hard— at the sight of Ino defeating Hinata in a friendly Taijutsu spar. "Did a Hyuga just lose a Taijutsu match?"

Kurenai sighed, bringing her right hand to her hair. She shook her head slightly, before whispering.

"Hinata has some…_issues_."

"Pretty bad ones, to lose to Ino of all people."

"Stop it." Kurenai glared at Asuma. "She just didn't want to hurt the girl."

"If you say so…"

Naruto was indeed dismissed by the hospital the same day he was admitted. It was late at night by the time he returned to his apartment, his stomach grumbling as he opened the door and stepped in. Heading towards the fridge, he opened it to find the usual desolation of sheer nothingness staring back at him. He groaned.

If he wanted to eat something, he'd have to go out to one of those twenty-four hours shinobi-only shops. He had never been to one of them before, since they were a bit far from his house and reserved for fully fledged shinobis, which he now was. He was a bit nervous about trying it though.

The civilian shopkeepers always glared at him hard whenever he reached for the counter. It wasn't as if they actually increased prices or anything, since they did have cash registers and all…the most pettiness he had received was during the last hours of a shop being open, being the last in queue and the man or woman at the register simply closing up before he could check his stuff out.

Still, he did feel pretty good for having talked to a shinobi who didn't hate him or glare at him. Maybe he could try. Deciding that he would, he took a deep breath before heading out once more. In the middle of the night, Konoha was pretty much a ghost city. The few people who lingered around were either drunken guys or late shinobis, and both generally ignored whoever else was on the streets.

Their only objective was to reach their own homes, so they simply ignored the slightly dark-color wearing boy with blond hair that walked alongside the wall. Naruto looked ahead, his gaze softening as he saw a shinobi shop open with a sign claiming the twenty-four hours.

Unknown to him, a masked shinobi that had been trailing him till then disappeared into thin air, his Genjutsu required job done.

The name of the shop was _Root_.

He blinked as he came near the sliding doors, peering inside and then widening his eyes in surprise. He stepped in gingerly, as he saw sitting on a chair behind the counter the same old man of the hospital.

"Shimura-san?" he asked in a soft tone, eying with slight shock the bandaged man.

"Oh, Naruto," the old man said. "What a surprise. You took my advice to mingle more with the shinobis?"

"I…yes!" he hastily nodded as his eyes travelled around the shop.

It was a simple room with a set of shelves containing various dry foods, common utensils and generally long-lasting stuff that went from detergents to odorless body soap.

A few different sizes of neutral-colored clothes hung in a corner, while a small open-air fridge held the frozen stuff like pea bags or fried shrimps.

"My, what a coincidence to see you again so soon. Empty fridge?" Danzo hazarded with a small grin.

"Yeah. In-between the missions and all I never have the time…" Naruto admitted, walking closer to the counter. There were some chewing-gums and shavers in a carton box near the register, as well as packets of cigarettes and more general every-day use stuff.

"The woes of being a shinobi," the old man nodded. "Well, we have a heater in the back of the shop, for customer's usage. Sometimes you just don't have the time to go back home between one mission and another."

"Thank you, Shimura-san." Naruto replied. He could actually eat without having to go back home and start cooking? That was a nice prospective. He headed over to the food shelves, biting his lower lip as he checked the prices and his own wallet. He had more than enough money thanks to his D-rank of the day before, and so he decided to treat himself to some powdered ramen.

He paid the old man and then headed towards the door on the back of the shop. The door did lead into a smaller room, with a kitchenette in a corner and a table with four chairs in the middle. It also held a few lockers, probably for the shop-workers to change, and a notice-board filled with slips of paper.

It mostly contained notices of shinobi asking for other shinobis to check on their apartments for a fee, and doing stuff like watering the plants and feeding their pets. That probably was for the Jounins or Chuunins who were on long-term missions.

If he ever needed extra-money, he might just check on the notice board. He was heating the water for his powdered ramen, when a thought crossed his mind. He carefully peeked in back to the main room of the shop, and hesitantly asked.

"Shimura-san? Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Oh? My, how thoughtful of you, Naruto. The tea is in the second cupboard from the left." The old man actually smiled and nodded, making Naruto grin as the blond boy returned to his heating of the water. This was nice. A few moments later, and Shimura-san entered the room while leaving the door ajar, probably to check in case any customer came in.

Naruto, simply put, was happy.

For the first time, he wasn't going to be eating alone or in silence.

At the same time, Danzo Shimura was calmly analyzing the Jinchuuriki. Sure, his face was smiling, grinning, talking, but he, the Yami of Shinobis, was analyzing carefully every single detail of the boy's actions. From the choice of food to the way he had moved around. From the way he had prepared the tea and scooped the leaves to how he had then added the boiling water to his own cup of ramen. The way the boy's eyes travelled to the notice board and how they went to the lockers, everything was analyzed.

He was a shinobi: he was meant to notice things.

He always trained his Root operatives to master their emotions, so that they could kill them on a moment's notice. His face smiled again as the boy thanked him again. Naruto had training to do, and he felt unfit to be in the team because he wasn't as smart or strong as his peers. Danzo merely nodded to the boy's words on training hard to catch up and finding something he excelled at.

Children were incredibly resistant creatures. He knew that from all the orphans he had taken to Root and had trained into flawless shinobis. They needed only a logical reason for something to happen, and they would follow through. To eat, a man would question why he had to do five-hundred push-ups. A child didn't. The child just considered it the norm that before eating, one had to do that number of push-ups. A child didn't question, he just accepted the words of the adult they viewed as a parental figure.

That was why his operatives were ready to sacrifice themselves at a moment's notice for him. That was why he was sure his Root operatives were all loyal to Konoha: he had trained them to be that, and they knew nothing else but that. Right now, he was using the same concept on the Jinchuuriki, and it was working.

Had he been a smarter boy, he would have questioned the coincidence of meeting the same old man twice in the same day, or the fact that he was just so casually a wind-affinity user who knew how to treat the excess of electricity in his body. If the boy had been smart, he would have queried on just what the chances would have been for something like this to happen…but the boy wasn't paranoid. The boy was desperate for acceptance. He was desperate for someone to look at him and say, with a kind smile, that he had done well.

Sometimes, a single well placed word could earn you far more loyalty than any amount of intimidation, treachery or diplomacy. He smiled slightly as he saw the boy's head drop gently; sleep was trying to claim the tired boy. Naruto excused himself then, waving goodbye with a face showing all the sadness a boy could muster at having to leave a place he liked. He waved back from his sitting position, and the moment the boy was gone he simply nodded to the hidden operative, who took his place at the counter.

He casually opened one of the lockers, pressing the panel on the bottom with his cane. A click later and the lockers both swung aside, revealing the passage into the Root headquarters.

Sai was a useful operative, even if sometimes he showed all of his failure as a Root member. The death of the civilian had been unwarranted, but the man had broken the law. Such strange displays of attachment were probably going to work against the boy, if the time came when the Jinchuuriki had to be put down. Well, if it came to that, then Sai would probably both kill the boy and become a heartless operative like he was meant to be, or he wouldn't and would thus die.

Still, that didn't matter to him in the slightest. What bothered him was the painting the boy had finished and nailed to the wall of his own cell. That did bother him quite a bit. It was the painting of the photograph of his team, but of the three faces, only that of the girl was defined as smiling. Sai's and Naruto's were instead absent, as if the boy had yet to draw them in.

It didn't worry him, but it did lead him to question just what Sai was trying to mean with that subtle action.

Yet everything was proceeding according to plan…and Hiruzen would not be able to do anything about it, especially _after_ he would gift Naruto with a _valuable_ scroll. The one containing the only other Uzumaki name within the village, since the Sandaime had removed the name of Naruto's mother from the registers, to avoid the boy's undoubted questions.

It was a little known fact that Uzumaki Kushina and the Yondaime had been together. The few who knew had been killed during the Uchiha Massacre or the Kyuubi rampage, and those who simply knew of the Uzumaki woman's pregnancy had been silenced during the passing of the years…by _accidents_. The only thing that remained was the scroll he held in the drawer of his desk.

On it was the unchanged roster of all of the Konoha's shinobis…

As well as Kushina Uzumaki's status of pregnancy that led her out of the ranks for the duration of it, a casual 'note' on how the blood type of the girl's child and that of the Yondaime Hokage could fit with the type that Naruto possessed…

And slightly more hints that would, undoubtedly, drive Naruto away from Hiruzen's camp…and firmly into his.

Lies and deceits made the shinobi world what it was, but precisely because of that, truth was also a powerful weapon.

Against truth, even Hiruzen would have a hard time to fight against.

**Author's notes**

**And the second mission is done.**

**Sai is acting in his normal self. Danzo shows what being a schemer truly means. We see the other Genins doing…normal stuff. There is a bit of splice of life in a shinobi world…**

**And really, the only possible explanation for Naruto ignoring being the son of the Fourth Hokage and Kushina Uzumaki can be nothing else than deliberate **_**silencing**_**. Kakashi's desire to kill his team and his Icha-Icha…well, you know I always insert new Icha-Ichas as I see fit for the situation, gives a touch of humor doesn't it?**

**And this is **_**Danzo**_**. Just you wait until we get to the **_**Kyuubi**_**. **


	6. Clearing Misconceptions in the Dark

Introverted

_Chapter Six._

Naruto was smiling.

Sakura's eyes looked with a mixture of worry and surprise at the sight of the usually grim-looking blond boy actually holding a lopsided small smile on his face. She didn't know what to make of it, especially considering they were dealing with garbage disposal.

She grabbed her metal-pointed stick and used it to pierce through a few discarded cans, before tossing them in the nearby garbage bin, as she thought about it. Her eyes travelled once more to the blond boy, appraising and studying him as he seemed completely ignorant of what she was doing.

Sakura's eyes then met those of Sai, and she quickly went to look at the ground once more. Sai had known about Naruto being a Jinchuuriki since the beginning, and somehow she felt that the death of that civilian hadn't just been something random. The man had talked to her, and someone had killed him for revealing the S-rank secret. Her throat felt parched and constricted as she shuddered.

The sun was high in the sky that morning, its rays hitting on them hard. The full might of the summer seemed keen on getting them to kneel and acknowledge the thirst and the need for a good rest. The forehead protector on her head was scorching, and she had taken to moving it to her waist, just like that Ino-pig had. It was, in her opinion, the only way to avoid a patch of burned hair.

Sai seemed to be keeping his cool, the boy wasn't even sweating as he swept with a broom the various pieces of paper and generic rubble people were so fond on throwing everywhere…but in the trashcans.

Nearby, the noises of the children playing intertwined with the soft breeze that every now and then gave the Genins respite. Sakura didn't know how to broach the argument that was suddenly at the forefront of her mind, and so as her eyes travelled up to where her sensei was she found herself biting her lower lip.

The man seemed to simply pick up on it, probably her body language, and as such beckoned her closer.

"What is it, Sakura?" he asked kindly, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Sensei, what's the purpose of D-ranks?"

Aoba's head moved slightly up, as if he was actually pondering on this, before returning back to stare at her. At least, she didn't know if that was true since the man was wearing sunglasses, but she could suppose he was looking at her while talking.

"There's not a clear answer to that," her sensei's voice came with a toneless pitch. "Some might say it's because they're just a way to show how helpful shinobi are to the population of the village, but since everyone in the village has shinobi relatives, what's the purpose of that? Others might say that since there are few civilians, then shinobis are naturally used as workforce to do public works, personally... I think everyone sees in D-rank missions what they want to see."

"Uh?"

"Well, I know that for some shinobis, D-ranks are things they do to stave off the boredom, trying new and original ways to complete them to keep their wits sharp without actually risking a do or die situation on a more dangerous one." He explained calmly, bringing up his index finger as if to denote the 'one' option. "Others," here his middle finger also came up, denoting 'two', "rather believe that D-ranks are used to unwind stressed shinobis. Collecting garbage is boring and repetitive, but at least it beats going on another assassination mission. You know, instead of having a simple down-time, you collect garbage or help a lady with her shopping."

Sakura nodded at that, but then her sensei brought up his third finger. "Or it might just be a security reason," Aoba shrugged as he said that, "having shinobis do works around the village may help in revealing foreign spies, address potential security leaks and much more. A Jounin winding down with a D-rank and filtering through the garbage might find a Kiri-cipher being used on a bag of chips for example…albeit that is an _extreme_ example."

"Ah, I see." Sakura's eyes widened at those words. It did make sense.

"Then there's option four, whereas D-ranks simply are helpful to Genins to learn different types of work, so that they may easily infiltrate villages," Aoba pointed out, "or option five has D-ranks in place as punishment for High-ranked shinobis failing due to arrogance, or option six that holds D-ranks as valuable lessons on patience…"

"But what's the real one?" she asked, slightly pissed now that her sensei was starting to rant.

"There isn't one. Maybe it's a combination of all of them, or maybe there isn't. What you need to know is that D-ranks exist, and you are doing one now." With those words, Aoba curtly nodded to her and returned to stare ahead of him.

She sheepishly went back to her job, acknowledging the closure of the argument. As she began to grab once more with the pointed stick the garbage, she realized her pile had largely diminished. She frowned at that, turning to look around for whoever cleaned her area. Her thoughts went on Sai, but they were quickly discarded when she saw the boy simply too far away.

Sakura's emerald eyes then settled on Naruto, and she immediately recognized she had been right: the boy's pile had considerably grown, as if he didn't know the of the word fatigue. He was panting hard and sweating profusely, but he wasn't stopping or slowing down at all.

She decided she couldn't just keep on staring and do nothing, the very least she could do was thank him. So she returned to her own pile, and once she finished with her area she moved to his to help him out. Naruto tensed at her coming closer to his side of the park, but he said nothing as usual.

"Naruto," she said, before stopping. The boy's shoulders had frozen, as he was apparently returning to his grim face as he turned to look at her. "Naruto?"

"Yes, Sakura?" he asked, trying to feign a smile. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, no," she answered quickly. "I wanted to thank you."

The boy actually winced at that, before nervously chuckling.

"Ah… for what?" his voice was soft-spoken, barely a whisper as it went by. She gave him a tiny and awkward smile, before answering.

"Well, you did clean a bit of my side, didn't you?"

"Oh that? That was nothing: I just thought it would be quicker that way, yeah." He nodded to himself, before turning as if finishing the conversation.

"Naruto, wait!" Sakura blurted out, and with those words she realized the boy had actually stilled. The blond teen turned around, sporting a resigned face.

"It's fine. Really, I understand. I'll change teams if that's what you want."

She frowned at that, staring incredulously at the boy.

"Naruto… why would I want that?" she suddenly huffed, crossing her arms around her chest.

"You don't?" this time he was the one who was asking her with a surprised face.

"_Why would I_? It's not like there's any reason, isn't there?"

He chuckled grimly at her words, shaking his head before answering back.

"Well, I'm not as smart as you or Sai. My Taijutsu is horrendous and I barely scraped by the exam. I don't have any clan jutsus or stuff like that, and the most I can do is clean the trash quickly."

Sakura tried a small sad smile, before shaking her head.

"When we had to pass the exam, it was _your_ plan we followed, Naruto. My Taijutsu is horrible too: the only thing it's good at is that it follows the book. I tire quickly and get sore real easy. You actually had to carry me through the exam!"

An uncomfortable silence descended between the two of them, before Sakura spoke again.

"I…I know why people hate you," she murmured. "I don't think it should change anything in the team."

Naruto's eyes widened at that, before he slowly brought his gaze to the side with a grimace. "It should."

Sakura shook her head strongly. "Shouldn't."

"Should." He retorted, crossing his arms on his chest and puffing.

"Shouldn't." She replied with the hint of amusement in her smile.

"Should." He nodded sagely.

"Should not."

"Should too."

"Dickless and Cherry: the job is done." As Sai's voice piped in Sakura embarrassedly looked away. She had entered the good natured banters she used to have with Ino, when the two of them were still friends, with Naruto. She didn't even snap at Sai: Cherry was a fitting nickname at least.

The small banter had probably taken the little time needed for Sai to finish up his own side and the remaining bits of theirs. In the end, the park was now clean of trash and at least for a few days it would remain as such, or so they could hope.

"All right," Aoba clapped his hands, walking closer to the three of them. "Sai and Sakura, I expect you two this afternoon in training ground thirteen for Taijutsu practice." The Jounin then turned to Naruto with a grim face, "I'm arranging for a teacher to take you on Kenjutsu, but so far I've got little results. Still, I'm giving you the afternoon free to look around for a sword you would like to use."

Naruto nodded, settling on a hesitant smile. He was sure he could find a sword, the question was if he'd like it or not. He didn't even know where to start looking for them. Probably his sensei was expecting him to go to the nearest weapon shop and _ask_. It was enough if the people actually let him buy things, to ask and receive back _helpful_ tips? Now _that_ was impossible.

Still, he said nothing as he merely nodded. He was about to go his way, when the hesitant voice of Sakura stopped him.

"Ehm, Naruto?" she hesitated, and then shook her head. "Nothing."

Naruto frowned, but shrugged and went his way. He wasn't there to actually try and enter Sakura's mind. The girl hadn't wanted for him to change teams, and that was enough at the moment. He was sweaty, and he probably stank too. He went back home slowly, entering his one room apartment and trudging to the sink.

The water ran down with a slight stutter, turning brownish from the accumulated rust. A few sputters later and it was clear. He removed his shirt and began to wash himself with the sponge for the dishes, using the liquid soap. Even the water was lukewarm, probably because of the pipes.

He had barely finished washing that the water suddenly stopped.

He frowned. Turning the tap's knob held no results. He shook his head before looking beneath the sink. The tubes seemed intact. Naruto sighed before opening the fridge and grasping the bottle of water he had put in the night before. He drank from it three sips, before closing the tap and then putting the bottle back in place. The fridge was an old model, and while it did keep things cool it didn't produce ice.

Not that it would matter if water had been cut off.

Still, it hadn't been cut off with him still soaped. He would have had to clean himself with the water in the fridge, and that would have been a startling way to begin the afternoon. He dried himself with a towel, before walking to his dresser to take out some clean clothes. With the heat outside, dark colors were out. So too were light ones since the sun would reflect them or make them shine out. He needed something neutral, and as such went with grey.

A grey sleeveless shirt and a pair of beige shorts. He held his wallet in his pouch, and together with his forehead protector he was ready to go outside, face the heat, and find what he had to find.

He had the afternoon free. He could go and look for a sword of sorts, or he could stock up on water. The sun's glaring heat brought him to do the latter —the fact he didn't want to talk to someone who might glare at him didn't matter, of course— and as he headed outside…

He went for Root.

It was a bit far from his apartment, and now that he was walking towards it during the day he realized there were quite a few shinobi shops before it. Late at night he hadn't probably seen any of them, but he did kind of want to talk with the old man again. He'd tell him about how Sakura didn't actually hate him for being the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. He'd ask him if it was smart to tell Sai too then, since maybe the boy wouldn't have a bad reaction.

He didn't know when, in the single day he had met the old man, he had started to trust him with his thoughts. What he knew was that it didn't do him any good to keep his thoughts for himself, and sharing them with someone who understood him and could help him was better. The man was a retired shinobi, and the shop did appear to be light trafficked, so maybe he was just helping him alleviate the boredom.

Retired shinobis did get a retirement pension, so the shop was probably a way to pass the time for Shimura-san.

He opened the door of the shop and was suddenly inundated with the cold air of the mechanical fan. He gasped and nearly moaned in relief as he closed the door behind him.

"This is heaven," he whispered to himself. A chuckle escaped from the counter, where the owner of the shop stood with a small smile.

"The miracles of technology, huh?" Danzo remarked, his only eye going from him to the mechanical fan that was settled behind a stack of melting ice. The cool air was then brought forward by the wind moved by the fan, that aimed towards the counter, and the entrance was thus in the crosshair.

"Hello Shimura-san," Naruto said as he walked closer to the man. "How's business?"

"It's about to get better I suppose," Danzo said. The bandaged man brought his only sane arm on the counter, "What can I do for you, Naruto?"

"Yeah, fun thing is…the water was cut off today." The boy grimly shook his head. "I don't know how long it's going to be, so I was wondering… Do you sell those big plastic tankards that you can fill with a lot of water?"

The old shinobi closed his only eye, as if lost in thought, before grimacing and shaking his head.

"We have bottles, but surely the lack of water won't last long. It is summer after all: they would be fools to leave without water a house for so long."

"Ah right," Naruto grimaced. "Right."

"Is something the problem?"

"Nah! Nothing, I'm sure they'll fix the pipes in the next month." He chuckled as he said that. He knew of course that the pipes would be repaired. His section of the pipes on the other hand…he had learned to repair them by himself, but he couldn't start on them until the workers were gone.

"It really shouldn't take them that long," Danzo frowned. "We are in the middle of a heat wave Naruto: surely you can ask to be moved to another apartment until they fix the problem?"

Naruto looked towards the door, and then back to Danzo. He finally gazed at the ground silently and hoped against all odds that the argument would be dropped.

"There isn't another apartment available?" Danzo queried calmly, his voice holding an undertone of steel.

"I don't know," he whispered. "I don't want to be a bother."

"You wouldn't be a bother: it is the Konoha's Shinobi Program job to make sure all of Konoha's shinobi are housed into safe lodgings with running water, electricity and gas. A shinobi is willing to sacrifice his life for Konoha! So Konoha should be willing to sacrifice a clerk's time to get you an apartment with running water!" the voice of the old man was heated as he spoke; his cane furiously slammed on the ground to better 'deliver' the argument.

"And if they won't take their time, then I will." The man nodded then to the boy who had frozen in shock from his outburst. "Now go and make your plight known, Naruto. If it fails, come back here and I'll deal with it personally."

The boy gulped down audibly as he turned to leave, but not before giving one last glance at the old man who was so keen on him being treated right. A single whisper escaped his lips then, so low that he doubted the man had heard, albeit he did twitch his lips as he said it.

"Thanks."

And then Naruto was out of the shop, headed towards the Hokage tower.

Danzo just took a single breath, and his features returned to the usual stone they were meant to be. He slowly walked towards the backroom, before opening the secret door and nodding to the operative to take his place. Now the blond by would either go and get his apartment changed with one closer to the 'house' of 'retired-shinobi Danzo Shimura' or he would not go and return to him, only to be offered a place to live in the large mansion of 'retired-but rich' shinobi Danzo Shimura. Both set of papers were ready.

A true shinobi planned for any possibility, accounting all that could happen in his plans. If the boy returned home, without telling him anything, he would make sure electricity to be the next thing cut, soon followed by the gas. He could play the waiting game until the boy went to hunt in the woods, and even if Naruto actually did that…he'd casually meet him and ask him how everything was going. He might even 'forcefully' invite himself in Naruto's apartment to check, and then he would act livid and angry.

It was all an act. A snare, a web of lies and deceits to constrict and trap the prey.

The resources of Root were fully dedicated on this _project_, the most important one of all: the Jinchuuriki's of the village were weapons, but more than weapons they were political tools. A Hokage whose Jinchuuriki didn't obey his will was useless, and far less considered for the position than one who instead had the container of the demon's aid. He could get Hiruzen to retire and —time permitting— he could place one of his own shinobis in charge of the village as a figurehead.

Like the Yondaime had unknowingly ended up becoming.

A few hours later, Danzo was greeted with the presence of Hiruzen walking in his shop. Albeit the Sandaime Hokage's face didn't denote any external emotion, inside the old man was probably twirling with a mixture of barely repressed rage and worry.

Danzo simply smiled.

"Hiruzen, what can I do for you?"

"Cut the chase, Danzo." The Sandaime growled lightly, showing a meager display of the shinobi skills to hold and reign in one's own emotions. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Absolutely nothing…I just felt the need to do something during my retirement, can't I?"

"Naruto, Danzo. What are you planning with him?" the Hokage muttered, his eyes narrowing even thinner.

"The boy is just a lost lamb, giving him a purpose in life seems nothing to worry about," the Yami of Shinobi remarked. "He is so much similar to the Yondaime, that it's like looking at a ghost, you know?"

Hiruzen sharply breathed in, before exhaling once.

"Naruto has suffered enough, Danzo. I hoped for him to have a normal childhood, and yet he didn't have one. I hoped for him to be happy, and yet the most he manages is a bitter smile. Do not toy with me, old friend, because there is always a free grave in Konoha's cemetery."

Danzo frowned slightly, before recomposing himself.

"Death threats, Hiruzen? How the mighty have fallen," the bandaged man commented, before flicking his gaze to the door. Hiruzen tensed slightly, before bringing up a light smile.

"Well then, Danzo-san, I hope your business stays afloat."

"Likewise, Hokage-sama, I hope your reign remains peaceful."

The door finished creaking open, as Naruto walked in with a perplexed gaze. The blond boy was looking from the Hokage to Danzo with a mixture of surprise and worry. Danzo placed a smile on his lips as the boy walked back in.

"Naruto, how did it go?" he asked, kindly gazing at the boy with his only eye.

"They said it won't take much to repair the pipes," Naruto answered back sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "A few hours at most, Shimura-san."

"Good to know," Danzo acknowledged. "And if it takes more just tell me, and I'll do something about it."

Well, Hiruzen had played his card to keep Naruto where he was. Still, the look of regret on the Sandaime's face was enough for Danzo to hold a smirk within his mind. It probably was a look of hurt hastily covered up, but not completely.

"Paperwork calls," Hiruzen sighed, taking out his pipe. "Hope to see you again soon, Naruto."

The boy just nodded awkwardly, before answering.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

There was the tiniest bit of pain on the old man's face as he left the 'Root' shop, that Danzo had no doubts. Naruto Uzumaki was the Sandaime's weakness all right. Yet he knew he had to tread carefully: if there was one thing he knew of Hiruzen, it was that he wasn't an opponent to underestimate. He had expected him to catch up on his plan at least one day earlier, but evidently the workload of the Hokage had made him falter and inattentive.

The small window of free time had been enough however, and now the Hokage had no choice but to live with Danzo being a part of Naruto's life.

"Neh, Shimura-san?" Naruto asked after a few minutes of silence. "Do you know where I can buy a sword?"

"A sword?" Danzo asked back curiously. "What sword? A Katana? You're a shinobi, Katanas are for samurais."

"I'm starting Kenjutsu," Naruto replied, looking down on the ground. "Sensei's teaching my teammates Taijutsu, but mine is so horrible there's no way I could get on par with them, so he had me look for a sword."

"If it's a replacement to Taijutsu, it makes sense to have a short blade, like a Tanto. _Tantojutsu_ is an adequate substitute to Taijutsu…albeit a Kaiken would work the same way…" Danzo's face turned thoughtful for a second, before he eyed carefully the boy.

"What's a Kaiken?" Naruto asked perplexed. "Aren't swords just that? Swords?"

Danzo chuckled lightly. "If swords were just swords, then tell me, what do you make of the Raijin no Ken?"

"But that's the Nidaime Hokage's sword, it is special."

"Yes it is, but did you know he never used it during most of his missions?" as Danzo said that, the boy frowned.

"Why wouldn't he? The sword was said to be able to splice through mountains! It made the user invincible too!"

"It was noisy and flashy, and it was the reason his hair was always frizzed upwards instead of down like his brother's," Danzo remarked. "The Nidaime Hokage was far quieter than Hashirama, and he preferred the use of simpler weapons, like the Kaiken."

"What's the Kaiken then?" Naruto asked, curious as what weapon the second Hokage could prefer. It made some sort of sense, not to use a flashy weapon when doing some missions, but in battle shouldn't the strongest used weapon simply win?

"It's a dagger, sometimes two-bladed and other times not. It is usually used for ritualistic suicides, but its strength lies in its simplicity. It's nothing more than a blade eight to ten inch long. The benefit is that it can be easily used indoors, where a Katana or a Wakizashi are instead cumbersome."

Danzo then looked down at the boy with an appraising look, before adding.

"What you need, however, is a _Yoroi Toshi_." The old man turned around, rummaging beneath the counter until he came out with a black sheath. The dark purple handle of the sword held a small shuriken-shaped symbol, as twin straps seemed knotted together to form a loose circle of cloth that probably made it possible to twirl the weapon.

It looked like a Tanto seven inch long, but its blade was probably half an inch thick. Danzo unsheathed it gently and with the utmost care, and as Naruto looked the boy saw that the blade seemed reinforced with linings of steel and iron. It was stockier than a normal Tanto, but it did seem as if it was also sturdier than one.

"The blade is reinforced with chakra metal, to make it easier for the shinobi to use it," Danzo admitted. "This blade helped me through quite some tight situations during the war. While running through the earth tunnels of Iwa, for example, it excelled in attacking on close quarters and range. It is also known as an armor cutter, because its thickness guarantees it will not snap against enemy armor. Even Samurai's plates are easy to pierce with this."

Naruto's eyes widened as he admired the craftsmanship. There wasn't a single decorative figure or image, and the handle itself appeared worn out from excessive use.

"The handle was dark blue when I first wielded it. It became dark purple from the blood of Konoha's enemies that dripped onto it." Naruto winced and gulped down anxiously as he reverently looked at the small sword. It was so small, and yet it had apparently killed a lot, if the deep purple color of the handle was of any indication. "In the right hands, any weapon is lethal Naruto. This sword isn't made for shows of swordsmanship or for complex moves. There is no such thing as 'special' actions or 'super' moves." Danzo's voice lowered itself to a threatening level.

"I feel the need to retch when I see young shinobi run around screaming their 'cool' moves like that meant something. This blade pierces. This blade stabs. This blade kills. There are not 'katas' or any wish-wash imbecilic idea behind them. There is no form other than that which _works_. This blade works. Do we understand each other, Naruto?"

The boy's face was now frightened as he looked from the blade to Danzo and back. It was as if he feared he would use the blade on him to show him what he meant. He might have laid it thickly, but it was important the message went across.

"Yes, Shimura-san."

"You may call me Shimura-sensei, Naruto," Danzo replied calmly as he sheathed the blade again, before pushing it forward to where Naruto was looking now with his mouth hanging open. "Tell your Jounin-sensei that I will teach you Kenjutsu. I do not believe he will have anything to say against it."

"H-How, b-but…the sword is…" as Naruto spluttered, Danzo merely put up a light grin.

"Listen to me, Naruto: I have no children, and these wounds prevented me from becoming an active shinobi-sensei, but that doesn't mean I cannot teach someone else. If by teaching you, my legacy will continue on the world, then so be it. Who better than you after all? You sacrificed your childhood, hated by all, and yet you still continue to fight to become a worthy shinobi of Konoha. I sacrificed my body for the will of Konoha, and here I am…ready to pass down my knowledge to the next generation, albeit I probably skipped someone to reach to you."

Danzo's eye settled on Naruto one last time, and he saw the tears leaking down from the boy's face. Had he really overwhelmed the boy with such words? He stood up and then, with his only working hand —at least publicly— he patted the boy's head, ruffling his hair.

And as the boy cried Danzo smiled to himself.

The Jinchuuriki was his to train and mold now.

Sakura woke up the next day expecting another easy D-rank. She hadn't expected to have her road outside stopped by her mother and father however, and that brought her to pause and look at the two of them with curiosity. Her parents usually were out of the house since the early hours of the day, so for them to have remained beyond normal and actually waiting for her was something surprising.

"Sakura," her father began with his usual comical voice. "We have to talk."

"Dad?"

"Sakura dear, could you please listen to us carefully?" her mother said, worry clearly showing on her face.

"Mom, you're scaring me." The pink-haired girl whispered, as her gaze fell on her parents.

"We decided you could go to the academy and become a Kunoichi, Sakura, because we trusted you to be serious about this." Her father said, his gaze turning hard and his arms crossed around his chest. "We expected you to be the best, and only if you were the best we would have allowed you to continue."

"You were always first in class, and that was enough." Her mother spoke afterwards, her eyes travelling up and down her, as if she was some sort of slab of meat for the butcher.

"But now? Now you dare not to tell us you've been teammates with the Kyuubi!? That is something we can't tolerate, Sakura!" her father yelled, pointing his finger at her. "Your grandparents died because of that beast! And you _dare_ talk to him? Have you no shame, child?"

"Maybe he's corrupting you," her mother whispered. "Maybe you're being tainted. We should have you cleansed I suppose. Fire should work."

She didn't know when the entrance way morphed into a bundle of chains, constricting her as she was pushed forward by her parents against the open oven of her father's bakery.

"No! Please it's not—"

And then she screamed herself awake, the sheets of her bed on the floor as she looked around fretfully. Her breathing was ragged, but as her eyes finally adjusted to the light around her, she took a deep calming breath. It had been a nightmare. Her parents were always out for work early with her father's bakery, so she had yet to tell either of them of her teammates or team number.

Their usual mean of communication was through post-its attached to the fridge with magnets.

She shook her head as the last remnants of sleep departed her, clearing her head.

Really, throwing her in an oven? Fire purifying her? What had she eaten the night before…oh right, she hadn't. She was fastening to get slim enough for Sasuke. Her stomach grumbled, as she held her arms around it. She clenched her teeth as she showered and dressed up, before settling an eye on the kitchen.

Of course there was the bread of the day before waiting for her. She grumbled as she took it and placed it in her backpack. She could give this to the birds of the park, if they passed by there, and if they didn't then she'd grab a few handful with water when she became hungrier.

She slipped in her shinobi sandals, and then walked outside. The village was as peaceful as ever as she began her stroll towards the Hokage tower. As she went by and waved to the various friends of her family and her along the road, she couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't gathered enough courage to ask Naruto the question that plagued her mind.

_What is it like to have the Kyuubi sealed into you?_

The question was a bit insensitive, but she was honestly curious. The Kyuubi had been as big as a mountain, and extremely powerful. The Yondaime Hokage had died to seal him, and that man had literally torn apart a battlefield against the Iwagakure forces in less than a second!

It was as she neared the entrance to the tower, that she realized she had been early. Sai was nowhere to be seen, and neither was their sensei. The nightmare had probably given her a false sense of time, and she hadn't bothered to check the clock. She plopped down on the bench near the door, her gaze up to stare at the white clouds lazily going around, when a startled 'oh' caught her attention.

She turned to her side and widened her eyes slightly.

Naruto had apparently been sitting on the bench since the beginning, but she hadn't bothered to check on him for a simple reason.

His blond hair, the sun-kissed blond hair that so easily identified him as her teammate, was gone.

Black replaced it. Just as black was the sheath of the sword he seemed to be carrying on his side.

"Naruto?"

"Sakura."

"Your hair is…"

"Dyed it." His reply was curt, and filled with embarrassment. "Black is easier to hide in shadows, blond just glints."

"Ah," she meekly nodded. Her gaze went to her own hair. Her long, bright pink hair…could she do the same actually? Ino had blond hair, and she hadn't dyed it at all, so why would she do the same?

And Sasuke hated girls with raven hair; he had told so the unfortunate bitch who had tried to color her hair as a 'future Mrs. Uchiha'.

"Listen Naruto," she said after a moment, "can I ask you a question?"

He frowned, but nodded a moment later.

She was about to ask him of the Kyuubi, when she stilled with her mouth half-open. She couldn't ask that in public, what if somebody heard and then killed her because of it?

"What is it like to have…no parents?" she blurted out and mentally decided that bashing her own head against the wall would be mild, in comparison to the look of hurt Naruto was currently displaying to her.

Yet the boy smiled hesitantly to her, a smile that looked more a mixture of pain and grimace than an actual smile. A smile that actually made her twist her insides as she realized just what utter idiocy she had asked.

"I…I live on," the boy whispered, before averting his gaze.

"I'm sorry!" she blurted out a moment after. "I didn't mean to…"

"Can we talk about something else, please?" he whispered back, his voice cracking.

Sakura's face displayed her misery, as she felt wretched for what she had done. Instead of talking about something else however, they both lapsed into silence, with only the light summer breeze to make a noise around them.

Really, what a great teammate she was…

No wonder her sensei had wanted to fail her.

With that in her mind, she didn't notice the shadow looming over her until a moment too late, when a haughty voice began to speak.

"My! If it isn't the big forehead!" and with those words, Sakura's attention snapped up to stare at Ami looking down on her, flanked by both Sasuke and Kiba.

Sakura mentally groaned. What else could go wrong that day!?

**Author's notes**

**And chapter's out!**

**There is an extreme jab against you know, those 'Jutsu-power-destruction' that come out every now and then. And those horrendous things like 'super-moves' as if we were playing final fantasy seven. FF7 is a game, but if one looks at Kishimoto's manga, at least in the beginning arcs, there weren't all the 'nation plowing' jutsus that we now see every second. (Someone SAW the battle done by Madara and Hashirama through the game Shinobi Ultimate Alliance? Compare to the mange and tell me.)**

**Another thing is 'Kenjutsu' = big badass katana. Those are Samurais, thank you very much.**

**Tantojutsu is the 'technique of the tanto' and shinobi use daggers. Not Katanas. Tantos, not lances of steel.**

**Danzo is our happy son-of-a-usual fanatic. **

**Sakura's parents aren't bashed or anything. Sakura just had a dream about their reaction that turned nightmare. There is really nothing of 'bashed' in my stories, so really don't worry about that.**

**I also realize that giving 'realism' to a manga of all things might be difficult…**

**But hey, we live to challenge our own limits! **_**YOSH**_**!**

**The fun thing? The next chapter will bring forth the Cusp of Irony, because we will get Naruto's perspective on what he's going on with Danzo…**

**And that, my dear readers, is going to be something to laugh at…or cry, depending on the point of view.**


	7. Finding the Darkness in the Smiles

Introverted

Chapter Seven.

Ami felt good in putting Sakura down to her place in the ground. She was the one who had been chosen to go with Sasuke-kun's team, and she was the one who got him most of the day. The only things Sakura had were the nearly dead-last and some freak guy she hadn't even heard about. Plus they had been team thirteen: didn't they know that said team had never passed once in the last years? That was the team for the failures, the not dead-last but average civilian folks who would end up being sent back home or to repeat the academy.

She smirked as she saw the girl wince. It felt good to prove one's own superiority against another.

"Sasuke," a dark haired boy spoke next to the pink-haired girl, acknowledging her Sasuke-kun with a light nod.

"Naruto," Sasuke answered back with his usual, very cool of course, dark and throaty tone. She narrowed her eyes at that. Sasuke never talked to her and had yet to even say her name. The most she got out of him were grunts, and even if she could keep on taking for a long while, eventually grunts didn't give much conversational material.

"Changed your hair, Naruto? Did you become a fan of the all-mighty Uchiha too!?" Kiba yelled next to her, nearly busting her eardrums with that. The Inuzuka always had to rant and yell about her Sasuke-kun, never keeping quiet.

"Kiba," Naruto nodded to him. He didn't say another word, and Kiba's crest lowered a second later. The Inuzuka had known Naruto for as long as they had gone to the academy, but once Teuchi had died, he had stopped rising to the baits of the dog user. That actually ended the discussions between the two.

"Sasuke-kun must be tired to hear your screeching voice every day," Sakura retorted hotly.

Naruto looked towards Sasuke with amusement. This was the usual and very familiar scene he had grown accustomed to in the academy. Girls fought over him, and he looked away. He knew of course why the boy didn't simply say no.

He had already tried once, and that had just brought the girls to try _harder_. Hard to get heirs of a noble clan like the Uchiha just added more spice to an already rich plate. Sometimes he wondered why nobody had already raped the Uchiha. Probably because they never got him alone in a dark corner.

"Anyway, where is your sensei? Do you even have one or are you in the Genin pool like all the losers?" Ami's sharp voice made Naruto wince slightly, as Sakura hotly defended herself.

"Of course we have a sensei! We passed the exam! I'm sure Sasuke-kun had to help you all the way!" to those words, the other girl just smiled devilishly.

"He did carry me like a princess… Aren't you jealous?"

"Dream on," Sakura scoffed. Her arms crossed over her chest as she puffed her cheeks and turned her head to the side.

"Dickless, Cherry: you are early." Sai's voice droned in, as the raven haired and pale boy appeared from a nearby street. Kiba guffawed at the nickname.

"Dickless? Naruto, really?"

"It's a nickname like any other," he shrugged. "I had worse."

The two girls kept on their bickering for a few more minutes, before silence finally descended once more between the two groups.

"What was your test?" Naruto finally asked, looking at Sasuke. The other boy looked back at him, before replying.

"We had to get two bells from our sensei."

Kiba's eyes actually widened. The prick answered to what Naruto was asking? What the hell! He had tried for days, and all he had gotten was just words like 'dog-breath' or 'waste of space' and similar. It had to be some sort of brood-bond. As long as you brooded, you could talk to one another with ease.

"What the fu—"

"Kiba! Language in front of a lady!" Ami chided the Inuzuka, who just winced slightly.

"You?" Sasuke asked back, his thoughts held to himself. He didn't dislike the blond —raven actually— _now_. The first years of academy, the boy had been a nuisance, a troublemaker and frankly he had been something of a _dobe_. One day then, it had all changed. He had been absent for a week, and the day he had come back to class he had practically missed him. Hadn't it been for Iruka-sensei calling his name, he would never have compared the dull colored boy that was sitting in the back rows with the same Naruto Uzumaki of the week before.

That had interested him long enough to see his eyes…and he knew that gaze. He had known that gaze for a long time, always looking back at him in the mirror. It was the same pain as him. The boy had lost somebody dear to him, and he had known that. He barely felt it, but with his silence and his keen desire to work there had been some sort of…kinship, if such could be the word.

He hadn't approached him, and he hadn't approached back. There had just been an understanding somewhere along the years. That understanding had morphed in, if not respect, at least not annoyance.

"Infiltration of bandit camp and retrieval of fake-wounded sensei," Naruto droned, his eyes glazing over. "After leaving us in the middle of nowhere."

"Killed anyone?" Sasuke asked, and in that moment a look of hurt did not pass by unnoticed on the once-blond boy.

"I thought I had," his whisper was barely hearable by the Uchiha, but he did hear it nevertheless. Just like the gulped down anxiousness of the Uzumaki. He didn't pry any more. He knew when an argument was a sore topic, differently from the Inuzuka who seemed to be intent on plowing through.

It was the hurt look on the pink-haired banshee, was it Sakura her name? That made Sasuke perplexed. Hadn't he told his teammates? He probably hadn't, judging by how stricken the girl looked.

Naruto just winced slightly, his eyes upwards now to stare at the clouds. He didn't even know why he had told Sasuke. Probably because the boy knew to keep quiet? Yet he had told within the earshot of the others, and frankly, he didn't like it one bit. He had felt it so real…

The coppery scent of blood as his kunai sliced through the throat of the bandit. It had been an accident. He had infiltrated from the side of the camp. The bandit had been just there, beneath him. He hadn't had much of a choice. He had swallowed his anxiety and stress, and then he had silently made his way down. He had the signs of the handle of the kunai on his hand, by the time he was close enough to whip the ninja wire around the man's throat and constrict it.

He had pulled him down and then pierced with his kunai the man's throat. Blood had gushed out, literally drenching him in the crimson liquid. He had felt it. He had smelled the liquid that tasted like copper and had seen the corpse lose control of its bowels. He had seen it all and he had felt the need to retch.

He hadn't. He had taken the wire back and he had moved on, feeling dirty for all the blood sprayed on him. He had settled the wire, the explosive tags, and the smoke bombs that Sai somehow had in his backpack. He had generated enough chaos to attract most of the camp, and just like that he had managed the most difficult part of the ploy.

Sakura couldn't see him act, since there was the large wooden barrack between her point of lookout and his. He could have died any moment, or so he had believed at the time, and that had actually brought him to slice that throat...it had been ruthless.

He had dreamed of it for nights, even when he kept repeating to himself that it had all been a dream. He didn't know how to work his mess out, because really, how could he go to the Hokage and tell him…

Tell him he _didn't want_ to be a ninja at all?

He didn't want to kill, he didn't want to die. It wasn't cowardice, just…why did he have to defend the people of Konoha, when they had rather a bad word for him than a good one? Why did he have to bleed for them, when all he got were stares and glares?

He was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, he had the demon beast sealed within him, couldn't they just…give him a stipend for being a jailer and let him be? He couldn't enter the civilian life: people would just never give him a chance. He was a shinobi to pay his bills and food, and now he had people who actually wanted to teach him.

He had cried of joy when Danzo had helped him, the old man was probably one of the few who knew and didn't resent him. The bandaged shinobi had even offered to teach him, of all people, about Kenjutsu. He was going to learn from a retired shinobi who had fought in the war, and the man had entrusted him with his own sword!

How could he just go and say he didn't want that? He couldn't. He would have liked to, but he could not. People had expectations for him, and he had to satisfy them. He didn't have much of a choice on the matter. With his luck, even if he did try to make a runner, someone would find him the split-second he took a step outside the village.

He sighed in relief at the sight of their sensei arriving, preventing any type of inquisition on his feelings. The man was honest at least. He didn't know whether he hated him or not, but one thing he was happy about was the honesty he held.

Aoba-sensei didn't lie, or if he did, he hid it well.

"You three waiting for Kakashi?" Aoba asked eying the three Genins that didn't belong to his group. As Kiba answered with a boisterous 'yeah' their Jounin-sensei grimaced slightly before adding, "Good luck with that."

As they stepped inside the Hokage tower, heading for the Mission Office, Naruto spoke.

"Sensei? I found a Kenjutsu teacher and a sword."

Aoba just nodded, before replying.

"Who is he? And what weapon did you choose?"

"Shimura Danzo, sensei. I will learn how to use a Tanto."

"Dickless can spar with me then, once he learns something." Sai's words came the next second, as their sensei just brought his right hand to his chin for a moment, before nodding.

"Well, I suppose it will do."

Silently, they entered the Mission Office, and as one of the Chuunins assigned handed over another D-rank, Sakura felt there was something wrong. She couldn't pinpoint it. She couldn't even understand what it was, but there was something extremely wrong going on. Was it the fact that her sensei hadn't asked for more? Or the fact that Naruto, of all people, had found a teacher?

He was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. That didn't change anything to her, but the rest of the village? She knew how they glared at him…so how could he find a teacher so quickly, and so easily?

He couldn't. Sakura was sure that it wasn't just a coincidence that he had begun training with a Tanto, the same weapon as Sai. Why her sensei wasn't saying anything was puzzling, but it wasn't what truly bothered Sakura.

She had to know how Naruto managed to talk with Sasuke. If she managed that, then Ami-bitch wouldn't even be a bother at all. She would ask him during their current D-rank mission. What was it, anyway?

"Today's duty is street sweeping and garbage division near the market." She mentally winced. Really? That had to be one of the most horrible jobs ever. It would give her enough time to talk with Naruto, she supposed.

Truth be told, it didn't.

Naruto was more of a ghost than a living being all throughout the morning. He was jittery and nervous, and somehow his eyes refused to even stare in a corner of the market. There was a grocery store that held the sigils of closure on them, and while the others were all opening up in the early hours, that one remained close.

She was wondering what the deal was, when finally a man limped with his cane towards the metallic grate of his shop. His face was covered in heavy bandages, and half his left arm had been removed. She didn't know why that man traumatized Naruto, but it was clear there had to be a story, especially since the now raven boy had stopped gazing at the store as soon as the man had entered it.

Naruto held a mystery, and she was going to find out what it was. Once she did, she'd hopefully find out what had he able to speak with Sasuke-kun.

The moment their D-rank was finished, she was about to open her mouth to call Naruto, when the boy all but dashed away.

She stood there with her mouth half-open, before a nervous tick-mark formed on her forehead.

"Sensei?" she asked sweetly, her gaze falling on her Jounin who was still lingering close by.

"Yes, Sakura?"

"Where does Naruto live? I have to drop off something of his," it was a little white lie. She doubted it would be much of a problem for her sensei to tell her, and yet she saw him frown for a moment.

"Sakura, are you and Naruto together?"

Her mouth widened in shock as she paled.

"What!? No! I love Sasuke-kun! There's no way I'd fall in love with—"

"It's not a matter of love or not," Aoba remarked calmly. "It's a matter of the team's inner working. Couples cannot be on three member teams nor can they be assigned to the same missions or to missions in the same areas. Relationships within a team must be made manifest immediately. Do you know why?"

She blinked. She didn't actually think about that.

"Because…it poses a safety risk?"

"Indeed. A couple tends to naturally worry about one another, thus failing to take into account the other members of the team. Chuunin squads composed of four or more individuals can easily overcome this problem, but Genin teams or Chuunin-led teams of three cannot. It also makes it more difficult to train a team when there's a working couple within it, since it distracts both from achieving their full potential."

She actually smiled at that.

That meant that if Ami-bitch managed to make Sasuke-kun fall for her, they'd have to swap the team's kunoichi? Then she would end up with Sasuke-kun! Or maybe they could swap Sai with Sasuke-kun. Then she would use Naruto's help to get Sasuke to talk to her, and finally she would conquer his heart. They would then go on Chuunin missions together, and finally have many babies!

She was actually chuckling with glee and a maniacal glee in her eyes, as a slight nosebleed fell from her nose.

"Sensei, Cherry is scaring me." Sai remarked with his usual monotone, albeit he was inching a bit further away from the girl.

Somehow, while Aoba didn't voice out loud the same thought of his student, he believed it too.

Naruto meanwhile settled himself on his usual seat on the corner of Ichiraku's. He eyed with a hesitant gaze Ayame, but it was Ayame's boyfriend who served him.

"Naruto! What can I get you?"

Mizuki smiled at him, and he hesitantly smiled back.

"Pork noodles?" he asked more than ordering it.

"Coming right up!" Ayame's voice came from the other side of the stall.

"So, enjoying your D-ranks?" Mizuki asked him, his face still plastering a smile.

"Oh yeah Mizuki-sensei," he answered back with a nod while splitting the chopsticks. The man had actually made him pass his exam, so he supposed he should be thankful about it. "They're all right."

"Just you wait until your first C-rank," the man said with a knowing nod. "The kiddie gloves come off for those."

"I suppose they do," Naruto squirmed on his seat, his gaze down on the wooden counter. A few minutes passed by in meaningless chatter, before his order came to him. He began to eat in silence. The taste of the pork buns was slightly spicy, as if somebody had placed something else on it rather than just pork. The noodles tasted a bit thickly too, but maybe it was just the type of plate?

He drank from the provided bottle of water, and frowned for a second. It had probably been poorly washed since it still tasted of the cleaning soap. He didn't bother with asking another. The spiciness was burning away at his tongue already, and with that there was no way he would keep on tasting the water any differently.

He paid after his meal and began to walk away, feeling slightly unsatisfied but not wanting to linger any longer. He hated going around the civilian sector, and that morning reminded him too much of that night. It was meant to be a harmless prank. Why did he have to play pranks? They hurt people. No wonder people hated him.

If only he could go back and change…

But he couldn't, and so he had no choice but to go forth with what he had. He missed a step and stuttered along the road, holding his stomach a second later. He felt woozy and cold, yet at the same time his throat was parched and his eyes dry. He blinked, realizing he was losing focus of the road ahead of him. There was a bench nearby. He could lie down in there, just for a minute.

Maybe it would be just a minute.

He hoped he wouldn't be late for Shimura-sensei's first lesson. It wouldn't do.

Naruto closes his eyes as he fell on the bench, rather than just lay down on it. His breathing grew uneven for a moment, before it finally settled down to a near halt.

In his mind, Naruto Uzumaki opened his eyes to giant bars and a humongous fox, which seemed to be standing down with its paws on the ground used to lift its head.

"Hello."

The fox spoke clearly. Its voice didn't boom, or resound across the sewer as if it came from a titanic creature. It seemed more like the soft-spoken voice of a kind creature, some sort of sage-like entity or god. It eyed him with its crimson orbs, and seemed to be giving him an awry smile.

"Ah," he muttered back. He had to blink. He didn't actually expect this. He frowned as he realized the gates were held close by a paper sigil holding a complex seal on it. "You're the Kyuubi?"

"My name is Kurama," the fox spoke calmly. "And yes, I do have nine tails."

Naruto blinked again.

"Are you surprised?" the fox asked. "Did you not come here to meet me?"

"Well…no," Naruto frowned. "You didn't call me here? I felt like hell before, but now I feel fine…" the boy opened and closed his right hand, while staring at it. Puzzlement was clearly etched on his face.

"We are in your mind," Kurama said. "Here, nothing can hurt you...except memories."

Naruto winced, but then settled for looking around. "Why is it a sewer?"

"It is dark, cramped, and easily forgotten," the fox replied. "And the fact that I may know fire affinity might have contributed to this. Earth and Water are both strong against my element."

"The Fourth Hokage did all this in my mind?"

"No, he didn't," Kurama chuckled. "The Shinigami did, and in exchange the Hokage is forced to battle for all eternity my Yin half."

Naruto grimaced, before finally settling his eyes once more on the fox.

"You don't seem evil."

"I never said I was, did I?" Kurama moved its head to the side, "but sometimes, intentions are misinterpreted."

"What do you mean with that?"

"I can sense evil intent wherever it is," the fox murmured. "I know where evil gathers and lurks. So I drift towards it in an effort to battle it. However to the outsider, I am just a giant monster who relishes in destroying cities and villages, no matter the coves of evil that lurk within them…and when I try and talk then they attack me first." The fox shook its head, one of its paws scratching the back of her ear like a dog would. "You are the first who let me talk this much, and for that, I thank you."

"What do you mean?"

The fox looked at him with curiosity. "You were not told?"

"Told what?"

"Your mother didn't tell you anything?"

"My…my mother's dead," Naruto whispered, his eyes down on the water surface.

"Ah, I see." The Kyuubi actually nodded slowly, before adding. "Would you like to meet your father, then?"

"Uh?" Naruto's eyes widened at that.

"I said: would you like to meet your father, then?"

"My father's dead!" he hotly exclaimed, "There's no way I could meet him without dying!"

"Normally that would be the case," the Kyuubi acknowledged. Somehow, Naruto couldn't see the giant fox as something hostile. Maybe it was just the complete look of disinterest, or maybe it was the fact that its voice seemed more 'old' than 'menacing'…or maybe it was just a combination of all of it, but it just…the Kyuubi didn't look at all how he had been portrayed.

"But he placed a counterseal, right on the seal." The fox wistfully replied, its snout pointed towards it. "You don't have to take my words at face value. Study the seal carefully and then see if these symbols here are for a counter. If they are, I told you the truth. Trying to remove the seal will free a chakra-transposition of your father, who apparently wanted to tell you something in the event I was about to break free."

"Why are you telling me this?" Naruto finally whispered. "You're the Kyuubi! I mean, aren't you meant to be evil and all 'destroy Konoha!' and be a demon and so on?"

Kurama merely put up a sad face. The fox then took a deep breath and sighed.

The hot breath actually caused ripples in the water, as it reached him and went by.

"When I was first sealed, the fault lay in Madara Uchiha," the Kyuubi's voice was thick as it seemed to be remembering far away thoughts. "Mito Uzumaki, the first Jinchuuriki, did not believe my own pleads of innocence." The fox's eyes grew softer as it spoke. "The second Jinchuuriki, she was your mother. She too did not believe my innocence, nor did she even allow me to speak. Do you know the most horrible feeling in the world, Naruto Uzumaki? It is to scream your innocence against an empty room, while you stand chained and bound in a cage from which there is no exit, forever entrapped and forever forced to be nothing more than a slave to the whims of another. Would you know how that feels, Naruto? It feels like hell. I will forever remember the words of those two. 'It is better if you stay down here, forever forgotten' was always their message." The fox slowly stood on its legs.

"Do I not have the right of freedom!? Am I always forced down, shackled as a slave!? Answer me this, Naruto! Do I not have the right to be free? To roam the worlds as I did in the past? I was sworn to my duty by the sage of the sixth paths! The shinobi should aid me, not try and capture me for their purposes!" the voice than lowered itself a moment after, the fox shaking its head as it stared at him.

"I do not ask you to free me. Your answer will be the same as that of those before you. 'I cannot, the village needs you' or 'your power will only bring hatred in the world' or 'with you at bay, no war will ever be unleashed'. I am nothing more than a weapon now, Naruto Uzumaki. And by that extension…" the Kyuubi smiled bitterly.

"You are one too. For I am shackled to Konoha, and so are you. For I am shackled to you…as you are to me. You are no longer a person, Naruto…as I never was considered a real being. Only a mass of chakra, incomplete, was what I was referred as…" the Kyuubi shook its head.

"Pathetical." It growled before he returned down in his rest position. "If it can be of any help, Naruto…you will die because of poisons in the next hours, unless you reach a hospital and are treated. I do not care about your death should you choose to linger on the bench. Eventually I will reform. It is painful, I must admit, but it is better than this."

And then Naruto blinked as he looked around the sewer.

"Ehm…how do I get out?" he asked wearily.

"That is for you to find out," the Kyuubi remarked calmly, closing its eyes. "Time here stretches for a while, not much, but enough to give you a little bit of leeway. You will die if you don't find a way out of course, but that isn't exactly my problem, is it?"

Naruto spun around, clenching his fists as he began to walk away from the fox. He had taken a few steps into the darkness that he suddenly found himself staring, once more, at the giant bars of the fox.

"Back again?" the fox was actually taunting him now.

"I want to leave."

"Why?" the fox asked. "Is there something outside waiting for you? Someone who cherishes you? You know you have been poisoned right? You ate in only one place today," the Kyuubi was snickering as it spoke. "Ah, the wonders of human malice. For all the monsters that hide in the darkness, the most dangerous one lurks in the sun. Humanity, such a cradle of hatred and evil I have never seen before."

"I…" Naruto closed his eyes as a silent tear trickled down his chin. "I don't want to die."

"Why not?"

"I want to live."

"Why?"

"Because I want to!" he screamed hotly at the fox. "I want to eat ramen! I want to make friends! I want to fall in love! I want to laugh and to smile!"

"And will you obtain this in Konoha?" the fox asked him, a small smile settling on its giant lips.

"I don't know!" Naruto screamed, "I only know I don't want to die yet. I…things are getting better. Shimura-san is teaching me, Sai doesn't hate me and neither does Sakura. I can work with them, we can be a team!"

"Oh?" the Kyuubi chuckled. "Are those bonds you are thinking of…or shackles and chains? Do they clink as you look at them? Remember my words, Naruto Uzumaki. One day, you will wake up and see the truth as I see it. That day, you will realize that my words are the only truth in the world. That moment, that precise instant, you will come to me again and you will ask me 'set me free' and I will answer you, rest assured, that to set you free you will have to pay me."

Then the Kyuubi turned around, curling into itself as its nine giant tails surrounded him. Finally, it closed its eyes. The next instant, Naruto was assaulted by pain as his entire body was wracked by the poisons he had ingested.

He tumbled out of the bench and on the ground, before a vile feeling settled on the back of his throat. He retched out in the corner of the bench, throwing out the sickening remains of his lunch as his stomach's spasms made him wince. The pain reached him as pinpricks piercing through his skin to unload molten metal within. He was shuddering as he barely got to his feet. He wasn't that far from the hospital, he could make it. He trembled slightly as he took a few more steps, before finally falling down face-first on the ground.

The moment he opened his eyes again, he was in the hospital room.

He turned his head to the side, holding down his throat a moan of pain for his stiff neck. There was no-one in the white walled room. He turned his gaze again towards the ceiling, and then began to count the cracks. He felt as if somebody had pounded his head with a sledgehammer, but the feeling of vomit on his tongue was an all too clear sensation for him. He understood what had happened then…he just didn't want to believe it.

Had Ayame poisoned him? Was that it? Did the price he paid regularly not amount to enough? Was his life what the girl wanted? He clenched his fists against the sheets of the bed. He couldn't believe that. He didn't want to believe that.

He groaned as he tried to lick his lips back into some sort of wetness. He felt thirsty, and at the same time bloated.

"Naruto," it was his name. He blinked as he tried to focus on who was the blurry figure next to him. It was dressed in white and red, so either it was a priestess, or it was the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama?" he hesitantly said, his voice coming out coarse and throaty.

"Who poisoned you?"

It wasn't a 'how are you feeling?' or similar health-related question. It was a honest, angry, question that demanded answering.

Naruto, for all the pain he felt in that moment, didn't want to answer that question. What need was there to answer? It wasn't as if there was proof, and Ayame had been kind to him. If she had changed recently, who was he to deny her the justice she deserved?

It had been his fault all along.

"Don't know."

"You ate at Ichiraku's for lunch," the Hokage commented. "Soon afterwards you fell ill after resting on a bench for a while."

Naruto winced. Of course there probably was some sort of shinobi assigned to keep an eye out on him. It was the only thing that made sense of the entire ordeal.

"Who poisoned you, Naruto?"

"If you already know, why are you asking?" he mumbled calmly, closing his eyes.

"I did not wish to inflict more pain on you, Naruto." The man spoke with a tired voice, a loud sigh escaping the shinobi's lips. "But if there is no doubt…I will have Ayame checked by Yamanaka-san."

And then the Hokage left, because in the hospital bed, tears were slowly falling down Naruto's face.

And the Kyuubi, deep within his seal, just softly chuckled as he swished his tails around. Freedom would be his, and when that time would come…revenge, sweet revenge, would be ripe for plucking.

**Author's notes**

**And we have me the Kyuubi.**

**It's a Smart-Kyuubi. Naruto is so, so fucked. Ayame is a little poison-girl. Tsk, tsk. Mizuki is Ayame's boyfriend apparently?**

**And Sakura has doubts. Naruto's real desires are laid bare, but of course Freedom is figurative.**


	8. The Training of Souls

Introverted

Chapter Eight

Naruto felt the burning of his muscles disappear after a few minutes, but as he cradled his right knee in an effort to stretch, he couldn't help but wonder just why they had deemed Shimura-san unfit for battle. The old cane-walking shinobi was a strict instructor. Since he hadn't been present the day before, even with a perfectly valid excuse, the man had doubled his hours of training. He was still nursing his tender legs when the snappish voice of the man came to his ears.

"Stand up, Naruto."

He gritted his teeth, but complied. The pain was already gone, much to his surprise. He had expected to still feel it coursing through him, making him wobble or limp his way through the empty training ground. It wasn't meant to be that way apparently.

"Another run around the grounds."

He knew that sometimes teachers gave strange instructions to their pupils, for some sort of secret or hidden purpose. As Naruto began to run, he thanked his lucky star that his Kenjutsu teacher wasn't like that at all. Danzo explained why he gave him his exercise, rather than letting him figure it out on his own.

"The purpose of the exercise is to train with repeated motions the individual. No thinking is involved in doing squats, running around a field or lifting weights. Occupying time thinking why they are done is just a waste. Acknowledging their long and short term benefits immediately is a key strategy to continuing them with determination."

The man's reasoning was probably sound, but he wasn't going to ponder on it. He had been tasked with running, and so he ran. He had yet to touch the blade, but strangely it wasn't frustrating him at all. If anything, it relieved him. He knew that someone else would probably already be whining about how they should be fighting with swords, rather than run around in circles, but he trusted his sensei.

"How long does a battle between shinobi last, Naruto?" Shimura asked as he passed by him during his lap.

"A good shinobi makes it last less than the blink of an eye, Shimura-sensei."

"Textbook answer, but the truth?"

Naruto bit his lip, trying to come up with an answer. When he failed, Shimura merely frowned for a split-second, before answering.

"Good shinobi do not battle. They murder. They kill. They steal. Never, should a good shinobi be seen as he kills. To engage _battle_ in the frontline is to not be a good shinobi. Samurais fight battles. Shinobi kill and murder." Through clenched teeth Danzo spoke out the truths that all of his Root members learned by heart. A Root member lived in the darkness, grew in the darkness and fought in the darkness.

Their corpses littered the sewers, not the ground. Their faces gazed at the earth, not at the sky.

"Do you understand, Naruto?"

"Yes," the boy replied. He was hesitant in saying that, and that much Danzo accepted. If he had been too eager, then the man would have known the message hadn't stuck. To send the boy outside of the village on any C-rank was foolish and suicidal as he was in that moment. He could see the way the boy moved, the speed he attained and the way his eyes seemed to travel rather than remain on their objective. His hand slightly tightened against his cane.

If he had the power to do as he saw fit, he would deprogram the boy and reprogram him. He would break and close all of his Tenketsu points, before reopening them after he learned how to crawl like a baby. Everything in the boy screamed 'self-taught' or 'wrongly learned'. He didn't know whether to try and see what his Jutsu repertoire was, but frankly if it was as pitiful as this…

And this was the Jinchuuriki —the weapon of Konoha— the supreme fighter that should be able to tide over a battlefield, no matter where he went. He wasn't complaining that the boy held a childhood. He was complaining that Hiruzen didn't keep a tighter watch over him. To Hiruzen, the boy had been poisoned by Ayame Ichiraku, and the girl was awaiting trial and sentence in prison.

To him, the Chuunin Mizuki, spy of Orochimaru, had been trying and failing in poisoning Naruto for at least a couple of months. Whereas Hiruzen saw kindness in the chuunin's eyes for helping out a fellow orphan graduate, Danzo saw the truth: the man wanted the Jinchuuriki outside, so that another team could extract him should he fail to kill him.

The boy was foolish, and had no awareness of that which surrounded him.

Had he been half the shinobi he was expected to be, he would have realized his food was poisoned. Yet the Kyuubi was apparently good at something, if it kept all but the most powerful poisons ineffective.

He would teach a lesson to Naruto soon, the moment Ayame would be sentenced to prison. He would teach him never to trust easily again. He was a shinobi: he was meant to be with shinobi.

The boy was compliable and eager to please, that much hadn't changed. If anything, the loss of the civilian girl had increased his desire to be with others. He had seemed incredibly pleased to have his training hours doubled, and Danzo was sure that, had he asked, the boy would have been fine with doing night-time training.

This was the sort of eagerness the Yami of shinobi realized was lacking in Root. The operatives obeyed, but they lacked the spirit. It probably was normal since he broke it out of them, but still—

He gestured for the boy to stop by bringing up his only 'visibly sane' hand.

"Shimura-sensei?" the boy stilled, breathing hard to catch his breath.

"Tell me, Naruto: how is a man killed?"

The boy remained quiet for a moment. Danzo smirked slightly. He was trying to see how far the boy's mind could go.

Naruto blinked once, before answering back calmly.

"He can bleed out."

"Then?"

"He can suffocate."

"Then?"

"You can stab him?"

"That's no different than bleeding him out."

"You burn him?"

"Correct, but not for the damage: a high percentage of burnt skin sends the body of the enemy into a state of shock. So the third answer is 'by himself'…another."

Naruto frowned, his eyes closing for the effort. He imagined a shinobi. Slicing didn't work, smashing? Burning was out… Explosions and burns were the same thing…

"Poison?"

"No. Poisons can either enlarge blood cells, thus bleeding out the subject, or cause reactions that either suffocate or kill the target through the use of his own body."

Naruto kept his eyes close, a whine in the back of his throat as he racked his brain for an answer.

"Lack of blood. Lack of air. Lack of preparation. The lack of something is always a cause for Death. To kill a man, you can easily take away his family, his friends, his lover and all that he holds dear. The man will then kill himself, since nothing holds any value for him anymore." Danzo spoke calmly, yet his only eye was settled on every single facial expression the boy as going through. "Falling from great heights kills, but this fall on the lack of blood since you do bleed out, or die on impact. Excessive shock, removal of chakra and many more methods are available to kill a man. The How however usually never changes: remove something, and the enemy dies."

"Do all shinobi have to kill?"

"Ah, yes." Danzo acquiesced to the question, "It is a required trait for Jounin, but surprisingly not for Chuunin. Many shinobi never wield a shuriken or a kunai for more than practice or training, and the Chuunin exams usually shed blood, but not lives, along their way."

"But—"

"C-rank involves bandits? You will find Naruto that your Jounin-sensei will be more than able to intervene should he wish for it. Many prefer to kill in front of their Genins, so that they grow accustomed to Death, but not to the act of killing itself. It changes people, to kill someone. To snuff a life out of the world, to blow on a candle, to remove the chance for another being to walk the Earth and redeem his actions… but sometimes, death is unavoidable to solve a conflict. Remember my words: when a conflict arises, the quicker it is put down the better it is for all parts involved. Killing others is the simplest way to go."

"Shimura-san, do you remember the first time you killed someone?"

Danzo frowned outwardly. Inside himself, he actually tried to recall the moment. It had been so long ago…

"Yes," he recalled. "I was with my team: at the time there were two senseis for six Genins, especially during times of war it was useful to have numbers rather than stealth for the low-key missions." And nobody would have fought the first and the second Hokage together, and when the Nidaime had been the only one remaining, he too had a 'flee on sight' order from the enemy.

Naruto raptly listened, his mouth slightly ajar as he seemed extremely curious to gather some bits of Danzo's life in the shinobi ranks. The Yami of Shinobi supposed he could give away one of them, considering he had thousands to narrate.

"We had been scurrying the outer perimeter of the frontlines, travelling from point to point to check on the fortifications and help in building them. During one check-up on a particularly unfinished bunker, we realized the work was hindered by enemy spies. While our senseis looked around the camp, we ended up helping build the bunker."

Danzo took a small breath there.

"In that moment, the Kumogakure shinobi, since we were at war with them during the First Shinobi War, attacked."

The Yami of Shinobi remembered the explosions, the screams and the flashes of light as the enemy had disoriented the defenders before pressing forward.

They had only miscalculated who was in the defenses.

"I would have died or been taken prisoner, had my sensei not come to our rescue. Yet I killed a few Genins before they arrived to get us out of there, and I will always remember the feeling." Danzo shuddered, as he spoke then gravely. "I had fallen on my back, in an unbecoming way for a shinobi. I was slashing in the air with my eyes closed and my body filled with spasms of fright and fear. The tip of the kunai nicked one of the veins on the neck of my assailers, before he could come closer…his body fell on top of me, blood gushing out and drenching my face and my clothes…and that, that I will remember forever."

Silence descended on the training field. Naruto didn't know what to say. His first 'kill' had been a Genjutsu. Did that make the experience any less real?

It probably did.

"Enough of this," Shimura said. His only working hand went to the side of his cane, where he pushed a small and invisible button. There was a click, and the upper half of his cane gave way to reveal a small blade. "Unsheathe your blade."

Naruto looked down to his side, to where his weapon was…

And the cold feeling of metal settled on his chin.

"Never —ever— bring your eyes away from your opponent, Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the man a few steps away from him, the blade a few inches from his face. He gulped anxiously, before carefully finding where his blade was on the side and unsheathing it.

"The position of the blade on your body must be determined on the style you wish to use," Danzo remarked. "The first few movements as you unsheathe determine your style, your first attack and the eventual success or defeat."

Danzo's wrist flicked the blade so that it loosely resembled being 'sheathed' on his side. He slowly swept it in front of him, changing the position with his wrist.

"By sweeping it and changing the position of the blade at the same time, you increase the speed the blade travel, and thus the speed it cuts. However even if you do wound your opponent, a swipe is far less deep than a stab. With that Tanto, it is all about stabbing."

To reiterate the argument, he moved the blade as if it was sheathed on his right side, rather than his left. He quickly flicked the sword with a wrist movement, and then pushed forward. Naruto blinked at the speed.

"If the blade had been charged with Wind Chakra, you would have died," Danzo calmly remarked. "And so would have the opponent who decides to jump back rather than to the side."

Slowly, Naruto saw the blade's sides start to be covered with the blue substance that was Chakra, somehow increasing its length.

"Raw chakra does not grant cutting power," Danzo seemed actually affronted by such a thing. "It is wasteful, and the most you can obtain is, after long refinement, a slightly better blade than normal. Even with a fully-fledged Chakra Blade, which is ordnance for any Jounin-level shinobi of Konoha, the benefits are far, far lower than expected."

"No chakra in the blade then?"

"I did not say that," Danzo's sword slowly began to make a 'grinding' noise, as the blue chakra was slowly but surely changed to a near transparent azure one. "This is Wind Chakra."

Danzo flicked his wrist to the side, and the blade swept an arc that created a gash in the ground.

"And Wind Chakra _cuts_."

Naruto's eyes could not grow any wider, and so the boy nodded in silence.

"Of course, Chakra affinity exercises are something taught to Chuunins aiming for Jounin rank, or taught by clan's member to their children. Since you are neither, I cannot teach you how to generate Wind Chakra, nor how to find out your affinity or similar. What I can do is give you the control you will need to mold chakra _outside_ of your body, and into the blade."

Danzo walked slowly towards the nearest tree.

"Tree-climbing is considered the first exercise to be taught to Genins. By molding chakra into your feet, you can have them stick to the surface, denying gravity. Since every step must hold the correct amount of chakra, and since the feet are the most difficult part of the body to mold chakra in, it comes to reason that by doing so you learn valuable secondary skills like better chakra control and multi-tasking."

Naruto nodded. Danzo frowned and then sighed.

"And that would be wrong."

The blond haired boy blinked, as Danzo merely held his working hand open, its palm touching the bark of the tree.

"First things first, put your hand against the bark and let your chakra out of your palm."

Naruto quickly obeyed, his hand resting on the trunk of the tree as he forced himself to let go of some of his chakra. The tree cracked and splintered near the spot he was touching, forcing Danzo to actually scold him.

"No, less chakra, considerably less."

Naruto closed his eyes in concentration, slowly lowering the amount of Chakra to what was but a mere trickle to him.

"It is a law of nature that Chakra is within all living things," Danzo spoke calmly. "Just as overwhelming amounts of water drown a plant, so too little will let the plant die of thirst. The correct amount is needed for the plant to prosper and the roots to grow strong."

Silence descended in the clearing, as Naruto tried to move his palm who was cramping. He couldn't. He actually opened his eyes in surprise as he realized his hand was stuck to the bark of the tree.

"The hand is the easiest place to mold chakra," Danzo commented. "Instead of wasting an entire day, having you run up and down a tree, you can more easily find the correct amount by using your hands. You should now remain concentrated on the amount you're using, and try to bring it to your feet separately. I will be watching you from afar: do not delude me."

Naruto nodded stiffly, the feeling of someone else having expectations for him settling on his shoulders like a weight. He felt something warm in his chest at the same time: the idea that someone actually would watch him train, that someone would expect him to do something…

He was going to get the tree exercise down before the sun settled, or he would die trying.

Meanwhile, Aoba was currently watching as his two Genin went through the motions of the academy style. The style by itself was nothing complicated. It was a mere 'punch-sweep aside the enemy attack-punch again' repeated and basing itself on the fact that the enemy would be as tall as the Genin.

Since in real life that wasn't the case, every Jounin made the students hold some minor adjustments, teaching them how to correctly compensate for the enemy's height.

"Hit slightly higher Sakura, bend the elbow a bit more Sai," he remarked. "Not that much," he added to the boy, who perfected the movement without fault. The raven haired boy was on par, so he turned his full attention to the pink-haired girl.

"Sakura? You're already short on breath?"

"N-No, sensei."

"You remember my words on shortcomings and honesty?"

The girl slumped down her shoulders, before shakily nodding.

"Yes sensei…I'm tired."

"Are your muscles aching?"

"Yeah, like hell."

Aoba turned thoughtful for a moment, before checking the sky and then the girl once more. "Did you eat lunch?"

"Yes!"

"And what —_exactly—_ did you eat?"

The girl's gaze fell on the ground, as her arms clasped around herself in the usual position of someone who was trying to 'protect' himself from harsh incoming words.

"Bamboo leaves," she mumbled.

"And?"

The fact that nothing else came out made him sigh. How was it possible that some girls had the mental fortitude to survive the pain of hunger, and yet couldn't muster enough self-worth to understand that 'dieting' didn't mean dying?

"Sai? Could you please start running laps around the training ground?"

"Yes sensei!" at least the boy understood, since he began running without hesitation. More likely he was simply 'uncaring' of the entire situation, rather than interested in it.

"Sakura," he began. "How long have you been deciding what to eat?"

He suspected her parents didn't know about this, because if they did and hadn't done anything…he'd have a couple of words with the Genin Collocation Program, which basically was the 'Child Services' for shinobi. Sometimes it happened that parents accepted their children going to the academy, only to change their ideas once they saw them coming back from their first missions with scars.

Or maybe they just changed idea midway through the term. So the abuse began. Yelling at your son or daughter about 'leaving the school' was generally the last resort, but it was there too. The problem was that while 'drop-outs' existed, the procedure wasn't as easy and linear as it seemed.

Konoha needed shinobi. So once one was enrolled, unless there were medical or psychological matters, the child had to continue training. Many children cracked under the pressure of their parents' disproval, and of course quite a few of the adults preferred to blame the children, rather than put the blame on themselves for having 'settled the deal' for their child in the first place.

And so the Genin Collocation Program was born. It assigned one-room apartments just as if the Genin was an orphan, and a shinobi, actually drawn from a random list of people belonging to the Torture and Interrogation department, would go and 'talk' with the parents in the meantime.

No parents understood responsibility sooner than when they received notification for a meeting with Ibiki. Anko too was pretty much quick in getting the parents to understand the matter: if only because the parents then wished for their children to learn shinobi arts to defend them from the madwoman.

"A few days," she whispered back uncomfortably. He knew it was a lie from the way she averted her gaze.

"You know I'm in the Torture and Interrogation department, right? And that as your superior officer, hiding facts from me that might be noxious to the rest of the team is a punishable offense?"

The girl closed her eyes, before finally answering back.

"Years."

"Years?"

"Since the third year of Academy. One of my classmates said that her older sister went into a diet and caught her man in a few days," she whispered. "I thought it would work with Sasuke-kun, but he—"

"Sakura: boys do not mature emotionally like girls. You could be as thin as a needle and as attractive as a kunoichi from Nadeshiko village, but until they hit their teen years, boys do not see girls as love interests, and even then the time varies from boy to boy."

The girl nodded, holding her tongue because she was probably trying to hold back her tears of shame.

"That said where were your parents? You didn't drop dead somewhere in the middle of the academy, so I suppose they did feed you, didn't they?"

The girl opened her eyes again, before meekly whispering.

"They usually come back in the afternoon late enough for dinner." Her face morphed into a sad and bitter smile, "left-overs from the day go in the fridge, so I have breakfast the next."

"Which you don't eat," he ended her words, crossing his own arms in front of him. "Sakura…I'm not going to tell you it's unhealthy, because it wouldn't change anything. A lot of people will either claim it's because you're screaming inside of you for attention, or maybe because you are generally ignored at home and seek comfort, but I'm not a lot of people: I'm your sensei. You're not a teenager girl, you're a Kunoichi."

"I understand sensei, I'll start eating then," she replied with the forceful smile that clearly told him she wouldn't: she would just try harder to hide it herself.

"No, you won't," he took a small breath. He knew how to break a person. He could easily make a grown up bandit cry in a few hours, and albeit he wasn't Ibiki because that man could get you to sing in less than two seconds, he knew he was good at his job. "I will be talking with Naruto."

"Sensei?" now the girl's face was brimmed with curiosity. "What does Naruto have to do with me?"

"You decided you would be his friend, didn't you?"

Sakura still didn't understand where the man was going with this: it simply didn't make any sense—

"So now I'll have to tell him how you'll be dead before you can even make Chuunin."

"Sensei?" there was fear in the girl's voice, but fear only brought a person so far…

"You lasted fifteen minutes training, Sakura. _Fifteen_ minutes is not an acceptable time, not for these meager exercises. Sometimes you will be fighting for that same amount after having run for seven miles in a single day, sometimes you will be famishing because you haven't caught any game to eat, sometimes you will find yourself doing great efforts to keep your teammates safe over long periods…and when those times will come, someone like you is guaranteed to die, or get his teammates killed. And all because you didn't _want_ to eat."

"B—"

"I don't want your excuses Sakura," Aoba replied with his calm tone. "I don't even want your word you'll eat. I know you won't. You'll go back home, you'll think about it and then you won't eat. So I'll just prepare Naruto, who can count his friends on the fingers of his hand, and by 'hand' I mean a single one, that he'll lose one. If I start now, maybe I can get him to avoid becoming too attached when you become too tired to parry a bandit's sword and are slashed midway. Or maybe I'll avoid him seeing you get captured, only to find your _raped corpse_ a few days later."

Sakura's face paled as her breath became uneven. Aoba could see the sweat already forming on her forehead, trickling down as her eyes turned teary.

"You have a choice Sakura: either you eat or you don't. Either you are an effective kunoichi or you aren't. You're studious, so grab a book on healthy diets during your free time, but until then I just want to know what I have to tell Naruto: will you die, Sakura?"

She shook her head, strongly.

"You're dismissed for the day."

And the girl ran, she ran as fast as she could out of the training ground. Aoba sighed in relief.

The girl would eat.

If not out of fear, out of guilt. If she still didn't, he'd call on the Psychiatric imbecile who claimed the girl was fit for combat. Meanwhile, he'd warn her parents.

This was what a sensei did, after all.

At the same time, Kakashi's ears were whistling as he turned another page of his _Icha-Icha Fun Boob-Fest_. The silver-haired Jounin was currently watching his team try and gather the chickens from a farm near Konoha. Ami was standing in a corner, cheering up and sending winks at Kiba, who caught even the girl's share. Sasuke had already caught his deftly, and instead of helping out the Inuzuka was now grumpily looking at him.

Did he expect solo-training?

He wasn't going to give the Uchiha what he wanted, not until he helped the others. He made a smile with his only eye, a mild Genjutsu effect just for fun and to keep his chakra control on trained to its maximum. The boy didn't even realize it, probably took it for a quirk of the light or something, but simply scowled harder.

"This is useless," the boy muttered beneath his breath, something that a normal civilian wouldn't have caught, but he hadn't been in Anbu for nothing.

He didn't answer, simply returning to hum as he turned the page.

"And the great Tzunade fondled the perky mounts of peachy flesh belonging to her beloved Zizuka, as the proud man-pig Zon-Zon watched with lust etched on his face…"

"Sensei!" Ami shrieked, "That's lewd!"

"Uh? You said something?"

"Argh! Sensei! Kiba, why can't you be like Sasuke-kun!? He already caught all his chickens!"

Kakashi sighed and returned to his book.

Really, his ears were whistling pretty badly recently. He wondered why.

At the same time, Naruto Uzumaki returned home sore and tired. He opened the door and stilled. He remembered closing it, so why had he but needed to push to open it?

It was as if someone had unlocked it.

Maybe it had been Shimura-san's words, but he quietly entered his apartment with a hand on his blade, held on his right side. A quick flick of the wrist, and he would be able to stab the enemy. He doubted there would be an enemy in his apartment: he was in the center of Konoha after all, but maybe a thief? What did a thief hope to find in his meager room?

He looked around his room in surprise. There was no-one.

He frowned, before a slight creaking caught his ears. He turned to the sink, thinking that maybe his pipes had busted again.

_Above you._

The Kyuubi's voice reached his ears, and the next moment he had jumped backwards, his eyes upwards to the ceiling. Just in time to avoid death by impaling, as a shinobi wielding a Kunai dived down. The man was wearing a mask, unlike that of the Anbus as it was without animal symbols. He seemed to be wearing a large white trench-coat, the type the Anbu used to hide their overall general appearances.

Coupled with the mask, Naruto had no idea if he was facing an Anbu from an enemy village, someone from the village who played dress-up, or someone else entirely.

What he knew was that he didn't want to stay there to find out.

"Tonight, the demon dies," the voice mocked him, as it came out metallic and distorted. "Well, Naruto…did you learn how to dodge?"

Naruto's rear was towards the sink and the kitchenette, but what mattered to the enemy shinobi was that he hadn't checked the gas tank used to light the fire. Said gas tank had in fact been tagged with an explosive note.

The next moment, Naruto saw the man make a single hand-sign. A flash of light from behind him soon followed with an explosion, as the heat mixed with the gas tore apart his room. He didn't see that. He didn't see that because as he had brought both his arms up to cover his face, the flames had washed over him, burning his skin and taking away his breath.

_How do you kill a man?_

The strength of the explosion sent him flying, landing with a sickening crunch against the other side of the wall. The flames began to feast on the walls then, burning through the room quickly as they neared his fallen body.

_Really?_ The Kyuubi grumbled. _I thought better of you._

_It hurts._

_Want me to make the pain go away?_ The Kyuubi asked. _Want me to help you?_

_Please, just make it stop._

_No. Welcome to my world, Naruto Uzumaki. Welcome to a world where pleads go by unheard and unanswered._

And then Naruto screamed as the flames nearly reached him.

Nearly, because a snake made of ink appeared from the hallway, slithering its way to the gas pipe and closing it. It was soon followed by a slightly bigger lion, who reached him in less than a second, before 'eating' him alive.

The cool sensation of the ink did nothing to stop the pain he was feeling.

Finally, he was brought outside by the lion of ink, which dropped him in front of a perplexed Sai before returning inside —to douse the flames he hoped.

"What happened?" Sai asked.

"Enemy…shinobi." He managed to whisper back, before darkness claimed him once more.

Sai left the place to the medics, who gave a quick glance at Naruto before bringing him quickly on the stretcher, and then running towards the hospital. The Root Shinobi looked back at the burned house and frowned.

Danzo-sama's plan of getting the trust of the boy did not require burning down the boy's house with the boy within. It also did not require needless risks like the fire spreading. This had to be an external force, and if Naruto had said 'enemy shinobi' then it meant there _had_ to be an enemy shinobi.

Thankfully, Danzo-sama's incredible planning had suggested he take up residence close to the boy, to observe him and intervene should the situation arise. Whoever the attacker was, he had been good enough to slip in through the Anbu's guard rotation over the Jinchuuriki.

A guard rotation of which the Hokage wasn't even wary of.

This was all extremely strange…

He had to report back to Danzo-sama, after dealing with the Chuunin guards who were now asking him questions. He wondered how he should answer to the question 'Are you a friend?' for a moment, before making his smile —which he now hoped was genuinely good to pass off as real— and answering back.

"I am his teammate."

That was a good enough definition, for the moment.

**Author's notes**

**Naruto Vs Smart-Chuunin.**

**Smart-Chuunin wins.**

**But we'll be getting somewhere. Not yet, but soon. I did warn you in the first chapters, didn't I? (And if I didn't, well… the 'affectionate' readers know my style and how I work. First comes the pain, then the gain.)**

**Now for a bit of Q&A**

**Sakura= I simply don't dig bashing. Even if Sakura is portrayed in canon as the 'slapstick' comedy relief, to transfer it into making her an 'evil harpy who screams 'Sasuke-kuun' and does nothing else' has always seemed to me a bit excessive. Considering her behavior is similar to Naruto's, (even her past of being scorned for her forehead is) and the fact she does seem to have few friends (Ino, who then drops her for the boy-fight) and the fact that in canon Naruto screams like an overly obsessed five years old…and Sakura does that too for Sasuke, I came up with the Parents-not-at-home thing. Which means issues. Now, concerning the 'anorexia' problem that was displayed…Anorexia is a sick, sick type of psychological sickness. It strikes whether you care or not about the victim, and the only way out is by pulling all the stops one after the other in a never ending battle against yourself. 'The worst enemy is yourself' truly sticks to the rule. Aoba is actually portrayed on the Naruto-wiki as a 'reader of minds' so…he does have his own solutions to the problem.**

**Kakashi: It is not a bashing of the sensei, as much as a try at showing how an even remotely 'competent' nearly-oc one is better than the actual canon assigned. Heck, anyone having Team Seven for a day would have talked them down of their overly idiotic tendencies (Except Kakashi, who came late and read porn which, no matter the excuses, just yells 'lazy')**

**The Kyuubi: the 'name' isn't important. In canon they show it as some sort of 'trust' bond. The Kyuubi gives it away like it was nothing, thus removing that chance. He even taunts Naruto in this chapter, displaying how he could have always talked with the boy if he had wished to, but how he had not.**

**Mizuki and his girlfriend: Ah good old Tsubaki, where would the world be without you? Probably fine. A hint is that I never forget anyone. If something is 'a certain way' there is 'a certain reason' which becomes apparent 'on a certain chapter' along the way. Trust me, I know Mizuki has a real girlfriend…still, 'real' is relative, isn't it?**

**Hiruzen: The real problem is that we can reason the 'Hiruzen takes charge' both ways. First, the Hokage did not assign Naruto to a shinobi clan. Why? To avoid one of them allying the Jinchuuriki to their agenda. The Sarutobi clan exists too, and since the next Hokage might not come from that clan, it was risky. Generally Jinchuuriki are tied to the Hokage's family, and lacking that a 'relation' is required. That in the other villages. Somehow Konoha forgot the pamphlet on 'how to treat your Jinchuuriki resident'. Even if we give them the 'ham over the eyes' answer, the truth is probably something only us fanfiction writers can write of (Kishimoto just laughs and says 'yeah, old chapter, no reason!' and goes his way) Probably Hiruzen was afraid that intervening directly would have attracted the enemy spies on Naruto, and they would have killed the boy. Since in Naruto-manga shinobi scream their techniques it is a weak counter-argument. In this fanfiction, where even a Chuunin like Mizuki plans beforehand an ambush for the Jinchuuriki down to the minute details (rather than just scream and laugh like an imbecile) things are different. **

**Danzo: Danzo always struck me as the 'down and dirty' type of shinobi. The absolute 'anti-flash' or 'anticlimactic battle style'. His fights were probably the most boring of the world. 'Fight-Urgh!-Dead enemy'. (Which I portray in his teaching method)**

**Ayame: The cook cooks, Mizuki helps in the kitchen. Out of the two, one has a legitimate reason to be accused, while the other is merely the boyfriend. Since the poisons were kitchen-wares or civilian-reachable, the fault pointed to the civilian girl with the dead father.**

**What will be the girl's fate?**

**Well, that depends on Danzo of course! Who ever said justice is equal for all never found the benefit of a Genjutsu Sharingan that-can-make-you-confess-crimes-you-never-did. (Wow the hyphens!)**

**Oh and by the way, I just went and had a look at my stats since I began writing on fanfiction. Well…I reached two millions words.**

**To be more precise:**

**Total words archived: 2,079,172 words.**

**Average number of words per story: 103,959**

**Total views to Profile Page: 25,338**

**So, what can I say if not…thanks for reading my stories guys and girls?**

**My next objective: getting on Tvtropes. My further down the line objective: conquering the world.**

**One step at the time I will, mark my words.**


	9. Talking With One's Father

Introverted

Chapter Nine

The white ceiling of the hospital was starting to grow on Naruto. If his entire body wasn't flaring with pain, he would have even begun to enjoy the room's flowery smell. He scrunched his face in an effort to sniff the air once more. Yes, it seemed there was a different smell from the usual antiseptic one. Grumbling and wincing for the sore flesh that was reknitting beneath the bandages, he turned to look at his bed-desk.

Some pretty looking flowers, with white delicate petals, were held inside a vase of plastic. It was actually a touching thing. Somebody had brought him flowers. He wondered if it might have been the Hokage, or maybe his sensei. He supposed Shimura-san had been warned by now, considering that from the window he could see the sun settling. The window was slightly ajar, as if somebody had walked in and out.

He tried to sit, but his back seemed to be held in a viscous and jelly-like substance. Moving apparently was a big no-no, as he cried out in pain as if the thing was actively trying to tear apart the skin from his back. He groaned as he looked back at the ceiling of the hospital.

He had nearly died.

"Then again, it was only a matter of time, wasn't it?" he mumbled.

"It always is with you mortals," the voice of the Kyuubi filtered in his ears, as if he was just whispering to him close by. "You always die. That is a constant in the world."

Naruto just breathed, refusing to answer anything back to the demon in his stomach. If he ignored it, it might go away or at least stop talking to him. The door slowly slid open five minutes later, as a woman walked in with natural grace. She was wearing a nurse outfit, but her purple hair and the way she moved told a different story.

"You have woken up? Good," she said, taking a few steps to check at his medical chart. "Do you remember what happened?"

He frowned. There had been a masked man, fire, some words on dodging? Not much, he couldn't remember much. "Hurts." His brain decided to croak out.

"Second and third degree burns do that," the nurse's tone seemed sympathetic. "We are keeping your back in a gelatin solution, to avoid further damage as your skin heals. You were lucky you survived." The woman moved slowly to the window, before closing it shut tight.

She muttered something beneath her breath that sounded awfully like a 'Kakashi', before turning back to him. "You told one of your teammates about enemy shinobi on the scene, right?"

Naruto closed his eyes, trying to recall. He did seem to remember Sai, had the boy saved him? Why was he there in the first place? The hour was a bit late for a visit, maybe he was just passing by?

"Nothing happens by coincidence," Kurama grumbled, his voice filled with some twinge of amusement.

"Yes," he murmured. "There was…someone with a mask; he had baggy clothes…he asked if…he asked if I learned how to dodge."

"I see," the woman nodded, before turning to leave after leaving the medical chart back at the base of the bed. "Depending on how fast you heal, you might leave in a couple of weeks."

He winced. "A couple of weeks?"

"Skin needs time to regrow."

The woman then left, closing the door behind her. He sighed before moving his hands over his chest, raggedly breathing as he tried to sleep again. There wasn't anything else he could do, was there?

He found himself walking through the sewers once more, his gaze landing on the Kyuubi's form behind the bars. The eyes of the nine-tails were slightly narrow, but not in anger at him —more like in a softer tone, as if he was simply deluded with him.

"Well, in the hospital again."

"It's not like I like being in here," Naruto muttered back, looking around as he took in the dingy state of things. The pipes were rusty and leaky, as they ran across the walls all around them. The water was knee deep, and while there wasn't actually a smell, he couldn't help but think that it clearly had to stink, being in a sewer and all.

"Me neither, but we can't choose our jails now, can we?" the fox retorted, before flicking one of its tails. Between the giant bars, a shogi platform appeared. "Thankfully I can stave off boredom. I don't know about you, though."

Naruto blinked. "You play Shogi?"

Kurama huffed. "I don't like it, but I can't go outside and stretch my legs now, can I? So I have to make do with what I have."

"But who taught you how to play?"

"What? You think that as a construct of chakra, I should be an ignorant mass of hatred and evil, pooled together only to be used as a chakra battery by the first imbecile that comes around?"

"I didn't say that!" he replied quickly, bringing both of his arms up in an attempt to assuage the fox's irritation. "It's just…you're the Kyuubi!"

"And you are a human," Kurama said. "That clearly marks you as an inferior and stupid individual then?"

"No! But you're a giant fox! Who'd teach you how to play shogi!?"

"My father, perhaps?" the fox whispered. "My grandfather? My mother? My grandmother? I was born out of chakra, but that does not make me an orphan. Your so called sage of the sixth paths, the mythological first shinobi, is none other than my grandfather. Will you read of this in your books? No, of course not." The Kyuubi chuckled at the last words, shaking his head slowly.

"You aren't lying, are you?" Naruto croaked out, as he took a careful step forward. He was just curious to look at the Shogi board after all.

"No, I'm not. I don't need to lie to hurt people. I don't need to crush you beneath my fangs to destroy you. I am the most feared of Bijuus not because of my power, but because of what I truly am."

Silence fell in the sewer-like environment, as the Kyuubi's tails lazily moved around.

"Demons should be drowned," a female voice hissed from one of the pipes.

"A shinobi, him? Let's hope he dies." A man's voice came from a dark corner of the room, filled with hatred and anger.

"Maybe I could slice his neck tonight, if only the Hokage hadn't ordered not to," a cooler voice, more controlled, came from beneath the water.

"Without parents as he is, no doubt he grew up wicked! Probably his parents left him on purpose: who'd love a monster like him?" he could imagine who the owner of that voice was —Ami's tone was easily recognizable.

"Die," a voice filled in from the ceiling. "Die. _Die_. **Die**. _**Die**_. _**DIE**_." Multiple voices roared through the chamber, and then it was silence once more. Only the shaking and tear stricken Naruto remained in the middle of the room, under the watchful gaze of the Kyuubi, the Nine-Tails.

"I cannot die, Naruto Uzumaki, but do you know _why_?" there was amusement now in his voice. "I am the product of malice and hatred, that which comes in abundance from you mortals. I do not control the sand like the Ichibi. I do not give orders to insects like the Nanabi. I am not a creature of strength like the Hachibi…but I am the Kyuubi, and malice and hatred? Those are everywhere and in every heart…and as long as they'll exist, I will too."

The fox seemed to stand, stretching his body behind his cage.

"Every man hates. Some hate pickles, other hate children. Some hate their wives, who betrayed them, while others wish to kill an innocent boy saddled with a weight he did not ask for. You see, Naruto…" the Kyuubi's voice seemed confidential, by then. "Your thoughts are filled with hatred too: you just refuse to acknowledge them."

He shook his head, bringing his hands to his ears as the thoughts struck him like a tidal wave.

"Stop staring at me!" one of his tiny voices squeaked.

"Leave me alone!" another whined, but soon those voices were drowned by others, more angry and far more deep in their tone.

"They should all just die," The water bubbled as the voice spoke with determination.

"Plucking their eyes out might stop the stares," a voice suggested with malice.

"Maybe if we killed their parents, they would stop calling us unloved orphans," a third voice, hateful but gleeful, filled the air with her wicked mirth.

"Why can't they just all burn!"

"NO!" he screamed. "That's not…I didn't mean it!"

The Kyuubi just chuckled with mirth. "I know," he said, as the voices disappeared slowly into a low murmur. "I know you did not mean it…but for how long, I wonder, will you not mean it? How long will you go on believing them the truth? How long will you sacrifice yourself for the sake of others to whom you own nothing? How long will you live as a slave to the whims of this village?"

"I'll…I'll get to Chuunin, then I can leave. I'll ask for a long-term mission, then go out, hide somewhere…"

"A shackle born of fear is no different than one born of hatred," the Kyuubi commented wistfully. "And what if you can't? What if they don't let you leave? What…what if they don't let you _live_?"

"Then I'll become strong, and then I'll escape."

"We should have him sealed after Chuunin, Hiruzen," a female voice grumbled from a pipe.

"We cannot let him leave and risk the Kyuubi to the outside," a male voice countered. "We could use the Hyuga's seal."

"Hiruzen, you have to realize it! We can't let him go around unchecked!" the female voice remarked haughtily.

"He had his childhood, now act like the Hokage you are!" the male voice spoke then. "Think of the village! Think of what would happen if the Jinchuuriki were to leave!"

"And whose fault would it be!?" Hiruzen's, the Hokage's voice, came in filled with such a thin tone of venom that even Naruto shuddered at it. "You think it's fair? No! I will not have him branded like cattle!"

"One day, Hiruzen, there will be another Hokage in that chair," the female voice spoke slowly. "When that day will come, I hope the Jinchuuriki will still be in Konoha, otherwise you will have given your successor the task of fighting the Fourth Shinobi War."

"Leave me Koharu, Homura and don't show yourself in front of me again for a while…you both disgust me."

The Kyuubi just chuckled again, showing his pearly white fangs to him. "Well, shackles are shackles, but does it even matter in the end? A prisoner is a prisoner, whereas it is made of chakra or of flesh. Sealed or branded changes nothing."

"Hokage-sama said he wouldn't do it!" he exclaimed back at the Bijuu.

"Yes, he wouldn't…but what of his successor?"

"He'd choose a good one! One who… wouldn't do it?" he hesitated. What did he know of who was going to be chosen as a successor?

"Fuinjutsu is a difficult art," the Kyuubi remarked. "It takes considerable skill to master, something you do not possess. The Uzumaki were famed for their seal knowledge, and yet the Hokage used the Shinigami itself to seal me…do you know why?"

Naruto shook his head, as he began to look for an exit. He didn't want to remain there a second more!

"Because as I spoke to him of his sins, as I narrated the hatred of others to him, he was so shaken he nearly dropped the child he was carrying in his arms."

"Mom, when is dad coming back home?" a child's voice asked with fear.

"Uncle? Where is dad?"

"Daddy isn't coming?"

"Mom? Mom where are you?"

"My parents didn't die! They were strong!"

"MOM! DAD! DON'T LEAVE ME!"

The Kyuubi then laughed, he laughed as the water that surrounded them grew to reach his stomach. "You humans always think yourself so powerful, so tall and mighty, so masterfully prepared for everything," the crimson eyes of Kurama shone.

"But you forget yourself! You forget that everything has a consequence. That everything has a price. You forget that no matter what you do…you are evil within. That is my purpose in the world —that is what the sage entrusted me with! Sinless people do not exist, and I am the harbinger of their destruction! I am the Kyuubi, born of hatred and malice to bring forth the rightful retribution! So answer me this, Naruto Uzumaki…do you really believe, truly from the bottom of your heart, that you will ever be free?"

And Naruto closed his eyes and clenched his fists. He would never be free, would he? Hunted, sought out, chained, branded, a weapon, a Jinchuuriki…but when would he be a free man? When?

"Can you…can you free me?"

"Everything has a price," the Kyuubi whispered to him. "Remove the seal, and you will have what you desire."

He looked at the seal and bit his lip, as the water rose once more, to the point where he could easily float towards it to break it away. He paddled towards it, his right hand gently moving to grasp it at the corner. He was about to yank it out, to remove the scrap of paper…

When a strong hand stopped him on the spot.

The Yondaime Hokage narrowed his cerulean eyes on him, before turning to gaze at the Kyuubi.

"Kyuubi," he hissed.

"Minato," Kurama replied calmly. "We were just done talking about you…take your child somewhere else, and tell him of the joys of being a slave to Konoha, would you? I grow tired of this." The water level dropped in an instant, but just as they were about to leave, the Kyuubi gave out one more call.

"And ask him of his mother! He will enjoy the revelation, trust me!"

Then with a bark of laughter, the Kyuubi resumed his shogi moves.

Naruto found himself in a featureless room, with white walls and a white ceiling. Only the Yondaime stood there in front of him, clad in his attire and his cloak with the flame symbols on the lower end of his mantle. His eyes were narrowed, but more in a sort of examination of him then in anger.

"Naruto?" he murmured, "Why?"

Naruto's throat bubbled up. He was staring at the Fourth Hokage, the man who had sealed the Kyuubi in his gut and…and if the Kyuubi was to be believed, this was his father. His father was the Yondaime.

And there was no way the Sandaime hadn't known.

There was no way people hadn't known. Why did nobody tell him? He felt tears prickle his eyes as he unleashed what were years of bottled up emotions because of that single question.

"_WHY!? YOU HAVE NO IDEA DO YOU!?_" he screamed back at him, "_HAVE YOU ANY IDEA WHAT I HAD TO GO THROUGH!? I WAS LEFT ALONE, PEOPLE HATED ME, PEOPLE STILL HATE ME AND ALL I'VE GOT IS THE KYUUBI TELLING ME THE TRUTH! THE KYUUBI IS THE ONLY ONE WHO DOES! WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE ME, HUH!? I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW YOU WERE MY DAD! I DON'T EVEN KNOW MY MOTHER'S NAME!_"

He choked on his spit as he kept on talking.

"I'm stared at, glared at, one of the few who didn't died because of me! I've got no-one who cares, I've been living alone all this time and…and all I get is a 'why?' well dad, _**WHY NOT**_!? Why did you have to do this!? Why couldn't you just leave me alone!?"

"Naru—"

"NO!" he screamed back, "I don't want to know! My life was hell, and all you have to say is 'why?' just…just no," he began to sob, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't want the Kyuubi. If he wants to go let him go, I don't care. I don't care about Konoha! I don't care about the villagers! I just want to be free from their stares!"

"Naruto," the Yondaime's voice was stern now. "You are no longer a child. Act like—"

"I NEVER WAS A CHILD!" he screamed once more. "So no! No, and no! Go…Go drown in a ramen bowl for what I care! You weren't there! You can't know! You wanted them to call me a hero? Guess what! I was called demon or monster, never hero! The most I got out of a happy day? When I could remain at home with no one staring at me, glaring at me, or talking to me! I tried to be happy, I tried to make them see me, and they just glared back! And you know what?" he muttered, breathing hard. "The Kyuubi's right. Every man is evil, dad," he snorted the last word out as if it was an insult. "And Konoha's filled with it! I'm glad the Kyuubi got down to burning it, and I'm just sad he didn't succeed!"

The slap echoed through the room as his father gazed at him with anger.

"Shut up," he hissed, as Naruto's hand went to hold on to his burning cheek.

"You're angry, and I understand that. I'm sorry things turned out this way, I'm sorry you had to deal with all of that, but you can't just go and spout that nonsense!" the Yondaime seemed positively heated up, as he spoke next. "I had wished for you to be seen as a hero, but…but if this happened, then I understand your anger," he muttered, shaking his head slowly. "But your anger does not excuse your words. Should you wish the death of innocent children in their cradles? Are the ones who actually cherish you worthy of being killed? Are the kids who are growing up and know no better really the culprit of their parents' words? You can't fault everyone, Naruto. You can't."

"But they can, right? They can just give me the fault for everything and be done with it," he snorted back. "They can come up and call me demon and monster, tell me I killed their families and then move on like nothing ever happened. I should just forgive them, right? Maybe I should become Hokage, protect them all, so they might in their hypocrisy come to say 'I always believed in you, Naruto!' or 'well done, son! I'm proud of you!' well…no. The answer is no. I'm not a scapegoat for their anger. They won't see me ever again, if I get my say on things. I don't care about Konoha, dad. I did, once, and I tried, hard…but they took away from me one of the few people who loved me for what I was. They destroyed what little I had…so no, father, I will not forgive them. Never."

Minato breathed in slowly, before putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I know this is hard. Heck, I didn't expect this. I thought that I'd meet you in a pinch, maybe when somebody else tried to remove the Kyuubi and help you out. I didn't think I'd meet you so soon, driven by desperation and anger…I'm sorry, Naruto…" his eyes grew soft and half-closed, as he muttered. "And I know that saying sorry never works. I know it all too well…"

Naruto bit his lips. His first instinct had been to skive away from the touch of his father, but…he was his father. It was the first time he was talking to him. The first time he was seeing him, and…and he didn't want to miss it. He would eventually wake up, and maybe he would never see him again…so really, he didn't want to leave. His head cooled down as he turned his eyes once more to those of his father.

"It's not all right," he muttered, before hugging his father. "It's not right."

"I know," the Yondaime whispered hugging him back. "I know."

He could feel his father's finger caressing his locks of hair, before chuckling grimly. "You have my hair, your mother must be furious about it…it was indomitable."

Naruto froze.

"Mom's dead," he whispered.

"Uh?" Minato murmured back, "When? When did that happen?" he asked, slightly alarmed.

"She died during the Kyuubi assault," Naruto said, perplexed. "I've been living in the orphanage since I was born, dad."

"No, she didn't." Minato choked out. "She couldn't. She wanted to, but I stopped her. I knocked her out before she could try anything as stupid as resealing the Kyuubi in her. I know she was alive when I died, I know it."

"But…"

"Even if she did die afterwards," he murmured, "What about Jiraiya? Tsunade? Kakashi? Heck, what of Orochimaru?"

"Who?" he blinked.

"Jiraiya was my sensei, Tsunade was part of your mother's family —they were cousins or something. Kakashi was my student: the only one who survived the war. Even Orochimaru would have been enough in a pinch! They should have given you a shinobi to protect you! After telling everyone you were the hero who held the Kyuubi, at least they should have given you some shinobi to guard you from the enemy villages! Not drop you at the orphanage!"

"I—I didn't…I didn't have anyone. I'm living alone in my apartment…never heard of—"

"All right," Minato muttered, shaking his head once more. "This is worse than I thought. I understand why the Kyuubi was laughing back there. It's no wonder you're angry…but…" he closed his eyes. "I'm just the left-over chakra of the Yondaime, Naruto. I won't remain here for long, so there is something you need to know. I thought sensei would have already told you of your heritage, but if he isn't around…"

"Do I have some inheritance?" Naruto asked with curiosity, trying to change the argument. "I mean, cup ramen is nice, but…"

"No, I'm afraid not," Minato made a bitter smile at that. "The Hokage's nothing more than an administration job at best, and a figure-head at worse. The pay was nice and stable, but nothing to splurge on. The house we had was destroyed when the Kyuubi attacked, and the little we had in our accounts was probably taken to repair Konoha, as is the case with dead shinobi who have no family left…we did our best to keep you a secret, since as my son you would have been subjected to attacks from enemy shinobi."

"All right," Naruto shrugged. "So what is it?"

"When you have the time, son, reach for my head on the Hokage's mountain. There should be a small rock near one of my 'locks'. Smear your blood over it, and it should morph into a wooden box. Take the box and open it someplace safe. It contains a cache of soldiers' pills and one of my Hiraishin Kunais."

"You'll teach me the Hiraishin?"

"No," the Yondaime's reply was quick, and filled with vehemence. "I don't have the time, and it is extremely complicated to even get started on it. The important thing is that you take the Kunai and bring it to the Konoha cemetery. There should be a tomb to a certain 'Rin' there. We never recovered the body, so I had it dug out as another cache of equipment. The kunai opens the seals that surround it, and the coffin should hold enough of a selection of supplies to help you out as a shinobi. There…There is where the Hiraishin's scroll is held." Minato's voice grew stern in that instant.

"Listen to me well, Naruto. The Hiraishin is not easy. It is not as simple as merely sending forth a kunai and hopping to it. It requires perfect Chakra Control, enormous amounts of Chakra and an overall extremely well developed knowledge of the human body. Writing down the Fuinjutsu part is actually the easy thing, and with the kunai you have it wouldn't require much. Now, I want you to swear to me you will not abuse this knowledge, I did not create the Hiraishin as a technique for war, but as one to always be close to the people I cherished."

He chuckled, as his gaze seemed to glaze over some old memory.

"Strange isn't it? I was a momma's boy and found a way to talk with her even when out during missions. Next thing I know it's an S-rank technique only I can teach. Not many can get it down too, and the three bodyguards I had always followed my lead with it." Minato chuckled at that, before his eyes softened even more.

"Well, there's no need to swear to me now that I think about it. You'll do what you believe is right —only please, don't blame the innocents for it. Not everyone is a culprit." He sighed. "And many times, people believe themselves right even when they're wrong…it happens to the best of us, trust me."

Naruto swallowed heavily, before looking at his father with tears in his eyes. "Will I see you again, dad?"

Minato just smiled, and then gently ruffled Naruto's head.

"Not until a long, long time…do your best, Naruto. I'm sorry I left you with this burden, I'm sorry you had to deal with all of this…and even if sorry does not cut it, even if I could go back and change things…I wouldn't, because there is a reason I gave you the Kyuubi, Naruto…and not just to protect Konoha," he whispered the last part in the boy's ear, as he moved in for one last hug. "Be wary of the Uchiha. Kill them if the choice is to be made. Leave none alive. Whatever happens, do not trust any of them, ever…and don't trust the Kyuubi. He might be a prisoner against his will, but that does not make him any less dangerous or sinless."

Then the Yondaime Hokage departed from that hug, and as he slowly faded away, he whispered a few last words.

"And tell Kakashi that if Kushina could see him, he'd kill him for having dropped off the radar with you."

"Wait!" Naruto exclaimed bringing his right arm forward. "I have more questions! What about my mom!? Who was—"

But the Yondaime had already disappeared, leaving Naruto to slowly open his bleak eyes because of the morning sun.

That, and because the Sandaime Hokage was standing right there, pipe in his mouth, looking at him with a worried look.

"Naruto…"

"Hokage-sama," he whispered back. The question was on the tip of his tongue, the dreaded question of 'where is my mother?' already there, already prepared…and yet he stilled. Did he really want to ask the man who was bound to know? The man who knew whom he was the son of, and yet had said nothing?

He couldn't bring himself to.

"The nurse told me you were assaulted by an enemy shinobi," the Hokage began hesitantly. "Do you remember anything important about him?"

Naruto shook his head, as the obvious questions were moved out of the way quickly.

"Hokage-sama…can I ask you a question?" he whispered, locking his cerulean eyes with those of the Sandaime. "If…If I had not wanted to be a shinobi, would you have forced me to become one?"

The Sandaime blinked, raising one of his eyebrows in surprise before schooling his features. "I wouldn't have."

"Your successor would, right?" he queried then.

"Successor? Are you already thinking I'm too old to rule, Naruto?" there was a light smile on the man's lips, "And what brought this on?"

"I heard people talk," he replied. "A man and a woman…they talked about a successor for you, someone who would 'brand' me or something like that…do I need a tattoo of sorts?"

Somehow, the fact that the Sandaime did not display anything told him he had hit the nerve. The 'paralysis' of the man's face couldn't be associated with much else.

"No, Naruto," he whispered. "You will not —never in fact, be branded. Don't worry: I'll see that those who talked are told not to meddle…"

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," he replied. "When can I leave?"

"The nurse told you a few weeks," the Hokage commented.

Naruto just breathed in calmly, before he heard a slight chuckle to his ears. He frowned as he felt the skin behind his back close up as if it had never been hurt to begin with.

"What you had to learn, you did, didn't you?" the Kyuubi taunted him through the question, making him wince as he slowly stood up. It no longer felt as if his skin was being pulled off, albeit it felt kind of disgusting now what with the cold sensation of a jelly-like substance on his back.

"I'm fine, Hokage-sama," he said to the wizened Sandaime. "I've got something good out of the bad deal the Yondaime gave me," he patted on his stomach as an afterthought.

Hiruzen's pipe was in the man's mouth before long, puffing out smoke as the old shinobi nodded. "I see…I'll have you discharged then. If you hurry you can even reach the Hokage tower before the mission hours begin, and by tonight I should have found you a new apartment."

"There will be no need for that, Hokage-sama," another voice, familiar to Naruto, rang in the room. Danzo Shimura walked in, heavily bandaged as he was, with a small smile on his face. "I was just coming to visit, but now that I'm hearing this…I do have more than one free room in my house. As his Kenjutsu sensei, I say he has but to benefit from it."

Hiruzen's hold on his pipe clenched slightly, as the man narrowed his eyes on the other one.

"Shimura-san, you shouldn't exert yourself too much. You are grievously wounded after all."

"Nothing lethal, Hokage-sama, and nothing that can prevent me from offering a room to a homeless shinobi for the time being," the Yami of Shinobi retorted with a small smile.

"Even then," Hiruzen retorted. "There is a problem."

"What, pray tell, would it be?" Danzo mocked ignorance, as he looked towards Naruto who was simply listening in while biting his lower lip.

"Naruto has not said yes."

The two elders stared at one another for a moment, before they both turned to look at the boy who shrunk at being the target of attention.

"It's fine…If I'm not a bother," the boy hurriedly whispered back, in a squeaky voice as he grasped tightly onto the sheets of his bed.

"Then the problem is solved," Danzo grinned gently. "I'll have the room prepared."

And with those words, the Yami of shinobi left the room.

At the same time, Sakura Haruno was faced with a dilemma, as she stood in front of the fridge of her house. Her parents were there, so she couldn't skip on breakfast, but still...she didn't know whether or not try and not eat all the same. It was a force of habit after all, wasn't it?

Her mother was actually smiling at her kindly, as she placed the breakfast in front of her. What was she going to do with it? Eat it all? Eat it a bit? She flinched as the words of her sensei barreled back into her head. Hesitantly, she picked up the chopsticks…well, if she ate more, then she could try and train more, and afterwards she would lose more weight because of it, right?

Worse to worse, she might even try as Ino did: the two fingers down the throat method.

She didn't know why her parents were looking at her with a condescending attitude, but it puzzled and annoyed her all the same. They were going to be late in opening their shop: why were they still hanging around?

It was as she finished breakfast and left, that a stray thought occurred to her. What if they had been told? What if they had been told and were now looking out for her?

She swallowed thickly. She felt bloated, her stomach feeling full and all too heavy for her. She was going to put up weight if this continued, and she couldn't.

Just how did Ino manage to pass by her parent's eyes?

She even had a shinobi father: it should have been more difficult!

As she reached for the Hokage tower in the morning, her thoughts went to Naruto. Their sensei had told them he was still in the hospital. How the boy managed to get hurt on a daily basis eluded her, but maybe he was just clumsy by nature? Why did he even try and become a shinobi then, if all that he did was fall on his own kunai?

She frowned —that was a bad thought to have about a teammate. Sai had barely managed to save him from a fire, and he had been badly burned. She hadn't visited him yet, but since he probably had weeks of prog—

And there he was.

Sakura blinked as she calmly brought up her right hand in a fist and closed the distance to him in a second.

"NARUTO!" she screeched, making him wince as he nearly jumped away. "What are you doing out of the hospital!?"

Was the boy mad to begin with!?

"Sakura," he replied, his voice low as always. That made her self-conscious, terribly so, of how high she had been screaming at him. Now she was embarrassed. "I was discharged."

"But Sai said you had weeks of prognosis!" Sakura retorted, looking at him with a slight worry in her eyes. "You didn't skive off, did you? Was it a small burn? I didn't think Sai would blow things out of proportion, but you do seem fine."

"I'm fine," he whispered back. "Really, it was nothing big."

"Naruto?" their sensei arrived a few seconds later, Sai in tow. The man frowned, but as Naruto seemed fine, he did not pry. Aoba knew when to ask and when not to, and he doubted they would have released him from the hospital unless he was fine.

"I've been discharged early, sensei." Naruto commented —his gaze down on the ground. "I can train." The implicit meaning was 'I can work', and Aoba heard it clearly. He said nothing as he walked in the tower, merely nodding in understanding to the black haired boy.

He supposed he would have to get used to it.

The D-rank of the day turned out to be nothing more than weed pulling, from the garden of an elderly lady who seemed more than content in just sitting down on a wooden and creaky chair and snapping out at them for being slow.

"Careful with the flowers, brat!" she screeched at Naruto for the seventeenth time. Sakura's forehead was already sporting a tick-mark, which seemed to only be exacerbated by the fact that there wasn't a flower at all near the weeds Naruto was pulling.

She didn't know how Naruto could stand it —or their sensei for what it mattered. Aoba-sensei just seemed to be watching over them, with his arms crossed in front of him, and enjoying the shade of a tree. They were the ones sweating, and Naruto was actually given the worst part of the garden —the one with the bushy thorns.

She bit her lip at another reprimand from the elderly woman, tightening her fists as she was just about to tear out a pink and crimson flower from the ground, rather than the nearby weed. She didn't, because she half-suspected the woman would give the fault to Naruto to begin with.

"Pat harder the soil! You're doing a really shoddy work!"

"Shut up," Sakura mouthed with her lips, her eyes twitching. She had barely whispered it, so the old woman hadn't heard.

"Grab those thorns and remove their roots boy, don't cut them or they'll just grow up again!"

"Shut up," she whispered again as she gave a quick gaze to where Naruto was currently busy with…ninja wire? Well, considering he was the only one the woman hadn't given gloves to…his hands were a mess of dirt and dried blood, but he hadn't even screamed once.

"Tetsua," Naruto suddenly said as he removed a root. "Crushed." His eyes turned to look at the old woman, who seemed to have been paling under his simple words. "Makoto, impaled." He snarled. "Kozuki, internal bleeding."

"Naruto," their sensei suddenly pulled himself out of the shadow of the tree, moving closer to the boy who wasn't done.

"Takeo, found dead beneath the rubble five days later," he said, his tone frosty and his eyes cold. Sakura realized her body was shivering as the woman gave out a choked croak. "You call me monster and curse my name," he stated, "But you are the one filled with malice, not me."

He turned his gaze to their sensei, and then smiled slightly.

"Sorry, sensei. She was annoying."

Aoba said nothing as the black haired boy returned to his duty. The silence that descended in the small back garden was now deafening, as even Sai had stopped to listen. A few seconds later, and the dark haired emotionless Genin resumed his duties. Sakura just blinked once more, and then decided to finish it quickly.

What was that all about?

Naruto, meanwhile, was becoming the subject of a one-sided conversation.

"You see? She quieted down," the Kyuubi remarked, his voice smooth and at ease. "A bit of fear can go a long way, Naruto…"

He uprooted another thorn bush, using the ninja wire as a sort of executioner's knot.

"You could use fire chakra, to burn it all." Kurama suggested, once more whispering in his ears. "Or you could just give up and leave the old hag."

He winced. "I'm trying to work here," he mouthed back.

"You know, when you think it comes through the pipes all distorted and really difficult to hear." Was the Kyuubi actually chuckling as he spoke? He was starting to grow more and more estranged with the idea that the nine-tails could be…well, as evil as portrayed, but maybe that was the beast's purpose, considering it was seeking a way out.

Still…the Kyuubi had told him of the Yondaime, hadn't he? And the beast had yet to lie.

"Oh! Now you're making my heart, hardened by centuries of evil in humanity, _melt_," the Kyuubi cooed with a surprisingly well-placed female voice. "You know, being a mass of construct I am genderless…and malice comes from males and females equally so…I suppose I could try and appear as a beautiful female next time around? Maybe naked, with enormous breasts and nine bushy tails…you'd dig that, wouldn't you?"

He stammered and nearly yelped out loud as he drove his fist through one of the thorn bushes. He ground his teeth as he pulled the hand out, the slight wounds closing in a matter of seconds.

"Ah the beauty of hormones," the Kyuubi chuckled with his voice back to the male tone. "I should have tried that, if only you would have found out about me a few years from now. I suppose you'd have believed it as nothing more than a sexy wet dream…a pity that couldn't work out."

"We're done," Aoba-sensei exclaimed after a few more minutes of work. The elderly woman merely nodded with her mouth still ajar, albeit she now kept her distance from Naruto, as the trio of Genins left.

"Naruto, what did you do?" they were midway through the street back to the Hokage office to report, when Sakura could hold her curiosity back no longer.

"I memorized the casualties from the Kyuubi attack," Naruto's face was blank as he spoke. "Since they insist on reminding me of _what_ I am, I remind them of _who_ they lost. One of the two sides will have to yield eventually, and I am the shinobi... I can withstand the pain."

He murmured the last part as if it was an afterthought, but that still didn't stop Sakura from hearing it. Her gaze softened at those words, before she decided to shake her head slightly.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Uh?"

"I wanted her to shut up, but I didn't say anything."

"It doesn't matter," Naruto replied with a tired tone. "I'm used to it."

"It does matter, and it doesn't mean anything that you're used to it!" she chided back at him, huffing. "We're friends, right?"

"R-right," he stammered out, perplexity etched on his face as she merely smiled back and nodded.

"Even Sai can be our friend, right Sai?"

Sai actually blinked —his mouth slightly open in surprise. He nodded with actual vigor too, before blurting out.

"Yes, Ugly."

"Sha—" Sakura's fist was halfway in the air, when she stilled it and took a deep breath. She dropped it limply back to her side, before narrowing her eyes on the boy.

"Maybe you need a trial period," she muttered.

"I slipped my tongue, Cherry," he amended.

"Good, keep it that way." She scoffed before returning her gaze forward, and blushing at the surprised face of their sensei, who seemed to be smiling slightly.

"Well…that's an improvement."

And with those words, Aoba began to walk again towards the Hokage tower.

He just wondered if the other sensei's team had finally developed those bonds that Konoha was famous for earlier than him, since after all he was just the sensei of team Thirteen, and he wasn't on par with the ex-Anbu Hatake or the son of the Sandaime.

Three Jounins, namely Kakashi Hatake —who was keeping at bay Kiba from murdering Sasuke— Asuma Sarutobi —who was actually smoking a cigarette while the blond haired kunoichi of his team hit on the head his two shinobi— and Kurenai Yuhi —who was trying to talk out of her shell Hinata, and thus missed completely Shino's attempts at having his bugs devour his other teammate for 'having crushed a Kikkaichu'— sneezed at the same time.

Maybe he could get his team a C-rank.

Maybe next time.

**Author's notes**

**The 'Incipio-momentum' of the story is done. Now we can get in the C-ranks.**

**The Genin exams will be different. I warn you in advance. Just like I warn you in advance of 'Wave' not going the same way (if at all).**

**Answering the questions likely to happen.**

**Naruto+Hiraishin! Yeahohmygoshyeahultra-powernarutoftw = No. Got the 'no' ? No. He will have it. But as with everything…wait a dozen chapters. Even more. I'm slow at advancing plot, and that's what I like.**

**Naruto should know who his killer is, because the Kyuubi senses malice= it's the Kyuubi who tells him…if the Kyuubi wants. Of course the Kyuubi doesn't. **

**Minato should have spoken of Kushina! = He had to make sure Naruto didn't go the 'burn the village' route.**

**Shouldn't anyone have sensed the seal being torn? = No, Naruto moved to tear it, but didn't actually manage it. Since this was a smart Kyuubi, even Minato was a smart Yondaime. **

**Hiruzen should call on Danzo= And say what? Hey Naruto, you know that Danzo is a Root leader who is a really evil person? 'Yeah right Hokage-sama'.**

**So it's NaruSaku? = Nein. No. Nada. Wait chapters. Many, many chapters.**

**Will Naruto leave the Village? That is his thought at the moment. It might change, it might not.**

**Naruto's display of spine at the end: he nearly died. Cut the boy a break, would you?**

**Ayame's fate? Nearing it, not yet, but close.**


	10. Scattering the Misconceptions

Introverted

Chapter Ten

Shimura-san's house was somber. It looked new, as if it had been bought recently. The stone grey walls and the slanted dark brown rooftop gave it an earthly feel of lusterless that made her perfectly intoned with Naruto's sensei's usual talk. The garden was trimmed and cared for, a cobblestone path paving the way from the fence to the door. The wooden door held a brass circle as a knocker, while the windows were all of the secured type —meaning they couldn't be completely opened.

The only interesting thing was a statue in the backyard, depicting a sort of mix between an anteater and a tusk-less boar, if Naruto had to guess. He didn't want to pry what the creature was meant to represent, and since he was already intruding in the house of another shinobi, he didn't want to be a bother.

Still, being literally home-trained in Kenjutsu by the old shinobi was already yielding some results, if he could say so. He was now able to unsheathe his blade 'fast enough to be worth the Genin rank' or something like that. It was high praise, at least for his knowledge on Shimura's handling of compliments.

That morning, his eyes rested on the Hokage's crinkled face as the old man bit on his pipe, while scurrying through the missions assigned. The window of the room was open, and a cool breeze was settling in, showing the beginning of the month of September.

"Hokage-sama?" Aoba-sensei began, "my team is ready for a C-rank."

All three of them blinked, their eyes moving for a second to their sensei, before turning back to the Hokage who just huffed and nodded.

"Iruka?" he turned to the Chuunin-sensei, who nodded back and scurried through the pile.

"We have two, Hokage-sama. Escort mission to Wave or guarding a merchant caravan to Tanzaku town?"

"The escort mission would be preferable," Aoba remarked calmly. "Tanzaku is further away and it's hot bandit season, with the cold months coming around they're all preparing themselves to stash supplies. My Genin need experience, but there is a difference between challenging them and trying to murder them. Who placed that mission on a C-rank roster during this time of the year?"

"I think it was Mizuki," Iruka muttered, actually widening his eyes at the Jounin's words. The three Genin all simply waited in silence, Sakura barely containing her excitement on going on a C-rank mission.

"Warn him to recheck his submitted scrolls for rank registration once more next time," the Hokage pointed out, before acknowledging Team Thirteen for the escort mission.

"Your client will be notified and in wait of you in front of the gates of Konoha within two hours. The mission should barely have more than the occasional encounter if at all. The client is transporting through sealed scrolls wood and construction equipment bought in Konoha's stores, so you will help him unpack once arrived at destination. The mission is not classified as urgent: as such it can be annulled in case of wounded, maimed or otherwise killed shinobi within your team. Should such thing happen you will of course not be paid. Should you encounter enemy missing-nin you are not to engage unless provoked: you are Genin, not specialized Anbu. Should you encounter foreign shinobi, Aoba Yamashiro is authorized to report back following procedure and nothing more. Should any of you go against the above mentioned words you will be placed on probation and face an inquiry to determine the reasons for your actions. You are to maintain a cool but respectable façade with the client at all time. There will be no talking of Konoha's techniques, no training in Konoha-only styles or mention of Konoha's defenses while outside the village and within earshot of the client or foreign individuals unless permission is granted from your commanding officer."

Iruka breathed deeply after that long winded sentence. "This is the general guideline all shinobi leaving Konoha for the first time are asked to acknowledge and understand. The scroll contains all the information that has been asked by the Shinobi Office Bureau to the client. You are authorized to inquire on the mission's specific details with your sensei, or ask your client. It is left to your discretion whether to bend the mission's demands by providing more services than demanded or considerably less, but a happy client is one who leaves a bonus."

Then the chuunin sat down wheezing, pulling out a bottle of water and drinking avidly from it.

"With all due respect Hokage-sama, the next rookie team is yours to brief."

"Youngsters these days," the Hokage scoffed as he dismissed Aoba's team. The moment Naruto was outside, he let out a tired sigh and murmured. "We can have it done while Naruto is out of the village."

"He will find out, Hokage-sama," Iruka grimaced, his eyes looking out to the window.

"She has confessed trying to poison Naruto with muriatic acid and various cocktails of cyanide, peach seeds and arsenic, even going as far as using rattlesnake poison once. There is simply no other choice, Iruka. We can keep the information away from Naruto however, as long as he doesn't ask…and he isn't going to, if I understand him."

"Yeah, about that Hokage-sama…" Iruka murmured —his eyes downcast. "Is it the right thing to do, sending him out of Konoha so soon with that emotional baggage?"

"A shinobi must learn to kill his emotions in time of need," the Hokage replied. "It is a lesson we must all learn by ourselves unfortunately."

Naruto's back was tightly secured and ready within mere minutes, and so as always he found himself sitting in front of the meditation garden that Shimura-san had built within the house's internal garden. He didn't know if having stones and smaller stones in strange patterns actually meant something, but he had to admit it was nice.

"It is an ensemble of rocks," the Kyuubi growled. "I have seen mountains of these things. I probably could make a pretty one with a marble cave too."

Naruto internally rolled his eyes. Kurama spoke to him when he had something to tell that would probably shatter his entire view on something usually…other times, he supposed the fox was simply bored of being in a sewer paw-deep in water with nobody to talk to.

"They should calm the spirit and all, but I think it's just the human who believes in it that makes it work. If you don't believe, then they're only rocks. If you believe, then they can be rotten fishes for all you'll care: you'll still feel relaxed."

Naruto's nose twitched as the smell of brown leaf tea floated near him. He had come to associate that smell to Shimura's presence, and as such he didn't even tense as he felt someone sit down next to him.

"Trying to meditate before your first C-rank?"

Naruto didn't even bother to ask how he knew. He just answered back.

"Yeah, we'll be going to the Land of Waves," he opened his eyes, staring at the bandaged face of his teacher next to him. "It shouldn't be difficult, but I can't help but be nervous."

"To be nervous is to be attentive of one's surroundings," Shimura replied calmly. "But do not let nervousness become paranoia. To see enemies in the shadows requires a keen eye, but to see smoke all that one need is to be filled with distress. "

"So I should be careful, but not overly so?"

"A good shinobi knows the correct amount of suspicion to use, no matter where or with whom."

Naruto bit his lip, before asking in a meek voice.

"What if something goes wrong?"

"Then it will," Danzo replied smoothly. "No mission is guaranteed to be as easy as written, but foolish is the shinobi who does not expect the worse, prepare for the worst possible thing and has a plan for a suicidal situation."

"You're speaking like Aoba-sensei, Shimura-sensei," Naruto replied, his lips quirking upward in a slight grin. "I better go, or I'll be late."

"I will not tell you not to worry, or that the mission will be simple. I will not tell you good luck or something similar," Danzo spoke gravely. "All that I have to say is this, Naruto: you have your training. Remember it."

"Yes, Shimura-sensei!"

Konoha's gates held a small office box right next to them, where usually a pair of chuunin stood more for bureaucratic purposes than outright guard-duty. The honor of protecting the gate was reserved to Anbu, hidden either in plain sight as civilians taking a stroll, or in the shadows ready to strike at a moment's notice.

Aoba-sensei was already signing off the documents that would tell at what hour and with which members his team departed from the village, and just as he turned around he was pleasantly surprised to find Naruto. The boy had arrived just in time, now all they were missing was the client.

"Naruto! You nearly got here late," Sakura hissed at him. The boy just gave a nervous smile back, before answering.

"I'm sorry: Shimura-sensei was home. I think he heard I was leaving and went away from the shop to see me off…" Naruto mumbled, his eyes softening at the thought. He might buy a souvenir from Wave for the old shinobi…maybe he'd like some tea leaves?

He dropped his bag on the floor and began to check its contents. He had two kunai, a band of ninja wire, a dozen of shuriken and a pocket knife within. Wrapped in thick plastic wraps was a change of clothes, so that even if he did end up in a blizzard or ended up wet from a sudden rain he'd have a dry change. He also lifted slightly the two flasks of water, both heavy and thus filled, and secured the third to his belt.

Leaving Konoha didn't only mean a more dangerous mission —it also meant more things to check for. He had tasteless protein bars, a small pouch filled with coffee sweets in case a mixture of caffeine and sugar was needed to stave off sleep —that had been Shimura-sensei's suggestion. Naruto hated coffee: it was bitter.

He also had a flask of alcohol and two pints of oil. 'In case the wood wasn't dry and the fire needed something to start with' he also had been given a few sticks of coal from Shimura-sensei. He actually wondered if the man hadn't been fretting too much with him: it was as if he expected this mission to suddenly last years within enemy territory, with no-one able to help.

They were going with their Jounin sensei —the man was meant to know his stuff!

Sai's and Sakura's bag contained pretty much the same things, albeit Sai also brought out three soldier pills. Naruto's eyebrows rose exponentially —those were pretty costly— and seeing them reminded him of the Yondaime's secret stash. He had yet to even go near it: first off, he wasn't sure he'd manage to get it without alerting someone, and if there really was the Hiraishin technique, he no doubt would have to 'part with it' so that Konoha could add it to its library.

It might be a bit of a spoiled kid act, but that was _his_ father's technique, which meant it was his too…not of Konoha.

"Cherry, Dickless…are you prepared?" Sai asked with a hint of… Was that actually a worried tone? Naruto's ears twitched, as he looked at Sai's face which had a light frown.

"I hope so," Sakura mumbled biting her lower lip. She double-checked her stuff again, before finally putting her bag back on her shoulders. "Aoba-sensei, what's our client like?"

"He should be a grey-haired man in his sixties, dark eyes and a worker's build." Aoba's reply was curt and to the point. "Remember you are not actually forced to engage and _terminate_ the hostiles. Defend the target and if bandits attack I will take care of them. Your priority is the target's life, not bounties on missing-nins heads or the likes."

"Yes sensei," they chorused, as their eyes soon scanned through the crowd.

A half-drunk man stammered towards them, taking a swig of sake before bringing up his left arm.

"I'm the awesome super-bridge builder Tazuna!" he exclaimed cheerfully. "Have you seen the super-ninja team assigned to me for the mission?"

"We are, Tazuna-san," Aoba remarked calmly without an inflexion in his voice.

The man gave a curious glance at them, as if scrutinizing his escorts, before huffing. "I hope pinky there pulls her weight: she's a bit scrawny to be a ninja."

The look of hurt on Sakura's face was soon met with a light snarl from Naruto's own. Sai's subtler attempt at intimidation was missed, albeit the boy had brought his right hand to the Tanto's handle, slightly narrowing his eyes.

Sure, Cherry _was_ annoying, and she clearly wasn't meant to be a kunoichi in the first place, but _he_ —a trained shinobi— was the one who could insult her, not a _civilian_.

"I would kindly advise not to insult your escorts," Aoba softly spoke, his gaze freezing Naruto on the spot. It was that sort of cold and deadly gaze that hinted all sorts of pain to be given if he as much as tried to make a single move to wring the neck of the client. "They have decided to lay their lives in defense of the village since the moment they donned their forehead protectors, all of them are adequately prepared and ready for this mission. I trust them implicitly to do the right thing."

Sakura puffed her chest out at those words, while Sai seemingly relaxed. Aoba said nothing, but his right eye did twitch when Naruto stared from him to the client again, his eyes cold and his gaze transfixed on Tazuna's neck. He had no doubt Danzo Shimura had told the boy where to strike in case he wanted to make a kill, and Naruto was starting to move off the charts he had built on him.

He had expected an introverted to gently bring out of his shell, hoping to smother the hatred and anger he might feel. He hadn't expected the 'egg' to start cracking already. Unless he acted, he had no doubt the boy would do something stupid, like charging at an enemy to show his emotions. Repressing them like that was never healthy, but he knew he couldn't do a miracle like with Sakura.

He didn't know what strings to pull with Naruto, because the boy had literally none. He took offered food with distaste but also with disgust towards himself for being weak. He refused to be the one to initiate a conversation with a stranger and he seemed to be double checking the distance between Tazuna and Sakura repeatedly.

He was even slightly tensing every time the civilian brought up his sake bottle to take a swig, as apparently his elbow moved too close to 'Sakura's side' for his ease. The fact he did the very same motions for Sai just told him what he believed the man to be: an enemy.

"They gave me kids, how am I going to get them to help me with Gato? The man is going to drown Wave if this keeps up!" the Kyuubi whispered in Naruto's ears, revealing to him the horrible truth of the matter. The man had lied on the mission rank, and he was guiding his team to death! "He hired missing-nin! I hope their sensei can protect me," Kurama chuckled as he added that last part.

He normally wouldn't trust all the fox said at face value, but did he really have a reason to lie? He was keeping his eyes on the man's back, and if what the fox said was true…

He'd stab the bastard himself to get the missing-nins off _his_ team.

Sure, maybe Sai called him dickless rather than Naruto, but there wasn't malice in his words. He could have called him 'Blue-eyes' or 'Thing' and it would still come out with the same tone. He knew some boys called each other 'nicknames' that held offensive words, like Kiba was 'dog-breath' to Hibachi.

Sakura had told him she was his friend. That was the first time anyone had actually said that out loud —didn't matter he was actually without a clue on what to do with a friend. He wasn't going to let a friend down, no matter what.

"As much as these sickening sweet thoughts are entertaining," the Kyuubi drawled out as their march proceeded smoothly. "I have a proposition."

Naruto rolled his eyes, but still made a silent throat verse, as if to hum a tune.

"I will heal you —if you survive your battles with your enemy— in exchange for freedom to be given just a few seconds before your death."

Naruto frowned. The fox wasn't going to help him in battle, but he was going to heal him afterwards if he didn't die? And if he knew there was no hope, then all he'd have to do would be to rip apart the seal and go 'out' after bringing back the Kyuubi.

Still, would the Kyuubi attack Konoha?

"I can swear I won't attack Konoha at my freedom," Naruto actually imagined Kurama rolling its eyes. "And even if I did I suppose you would still be there to stop me, considering you're an Uzumaki."

The raven haired boy just snorted silently.

"We'll set an ambush further down the road," a male guttural voice reached his ears. "Having shinobi won't protect the man."

"Shouldn't we tell Zabuza-san?" the other voice whispered. He knew they weren't actually 'whispering' near him. It was the fox. The malice that condensed into chakra whispered to his ears the evil thoughts of people…and he knew the fox was doing this to rile him up. He was wondering how Kurama intended to make him respect his own side of the deal, if he accepted it. It wasn't as if he could do something now, could—

A sickening flare of pain nearly made him buckle over as his stomach seemed to have been torn apart by a thousand of scorching steel needles.

"I can make you feel the worst kind of pain for quite a while," the Kyuubi whispered softly. "The seal will contain me, and I will not kill you, but my chakra is corrosive by nature…and I can give it to you in its highest form. I can deliver through your chakra pathways such levels of corruptions that would make you hope for the sweet release of death. I don't, because I am frankly not all that eager to go through the effort…but do not think that me being imprisoned means me being powerless to have my revenge, should you break our deal."

"All right," he whispered softly. "All right."

"You said something, dickless?" Sai asked, having probably picked up his words.

"Uh? No, nothing Sai." Naruto replied.

"I say we aim for the girl first," one of the missing-nins hissed. "She looks fresh."

"Brother, you are disgusting," the other retorted angrily. "We get the man, and that's all. We already have Kiri, you really want to add the Konoha nins to our equation?"

"Doesn't Tazuna have a daughter?"

"He does have one—"

The Kyuubi's whispers lowered themselves to nothing more than meek murmurs, leaving Naruto's blood to boil slowly.

Aoba Yamashiro was quietly eying his Genins, seeing how they worked their way through their first escort mission. The sun was high and warm, and there probably wasn't going to be a cloud for the entire trip —at least until they reached the Land of Waves. It spoke well of the mission.

That lasted until he heard the rustling of branches coming from the trees to his left. His eyes narrowed and his gaze went to the tree-tops. There, hidden behind a few leaves of foliage, were two shinobi with slashed Kirigakure forehead protectors.

He tensed slightly as he kept his gaze on the two of them, subtly telling them he had seen them.

The two looked back at him pointedly, before pointing to his client.

This was actually common courtesy. Missing-Nins rarely wished to fight shinobis of other villages, as many times 'underground work' was provided by them. Many shinobi took up missions that went directly against their home village, or that were to be done in their village's lands, so that they would not risk making more enemies.

No use increasing one's own bounty more than necessary after all.

Generally the low ranked shinobi would then disappear, to prepare an eventual ambush or assassination attempt for the client, taking care not to damage or harm the shinobi of the actual village unless —of course— they were sporting the same non-slashed forehead protector.

The other village shinobi also turned a blind eye to the Missing-Nins, rather than seek confrontation. Why waste time, effort and equipment on _collateral_, when one had a more important mission?

The two chuunins actually didn't expect the Jounin to still, and then turn on the man he was supposed to be escorting.

Meizu and Gozu stood in the trees quietly, already planning their retreat since the Jounin had seen them, when they watched a surprising scene. They both brought their eyebrows up at the sight of the Konoha Jounin gesture for them to come down.

That surprised them.

Of course they weren't stupid enough to do it, but it didn't mean they weren't curious. It was Meizu who suddenly muttered a surprised 'of course' before actually jumping down of the tree and moving closer to the group. Gozu cursed his brother, but followed.

"He lied about the mission parameter," Meizu spoke gruffly, actually addressing the Konoha shinobi who had tensed at their arrival. "The little stain did it, didn't he? You lot ain't Chuunins, right?"

"No, they aren't. I am a Jounin however, so don't get any strange ideas about my Genins." Aoba remarked curtly, before gazing at the now shivering in fright Tazuna.

"Tazuna-san, did you know you were being targeted by enemy shinobi or not? It is a simple question to answer."

"I-I didn't know!"

"Ah! He knows Gato has us on the payroll," Meizu snarled back. "We intimidated him plenty, he's daughter's such a nice girl too."

"You leave Tsunami out of this!" the old man yelled back. "Gato won't stop the people of Wave from rising back against him!" Tazuna then turned to the Jounin. "Please, you have to help us! If you don't we'll—"

"Tazuna-san," Aoba spoke calmly. "Did you know shinobi would be out for you?"

Tazuna looked torn, before he made a quick nod. "If I had told they would have increased the cost of the mission! There just wasn't enough money!"

"You lied on the mission parameters."

"But we're super-poor! We barely could scrap by the materials and the cost for this mission! Gato's killing us! You can't—"

"Zabuza of the Hidden Mist is our chief," Meizu supplied smoothly. "If that isn't enough…"

"That boosts the mission to A-rank immediately," Aoba snarled. Now his eyes were angrily set on Tazuna. "Did you know of one of the swordsmen of the mist being our enemy, Tazuna-san?"

Tazuna's hands clenched and distended, as the man's eyes snapped shut before giving one curt nod.

"Please, we'll pay you back anything you wish. We'll pay you hundreds or thousands, as long as the bridge is built Wave can—"

"Law Nine is clear in the shinobi code," Aoba spoke. "Should the client infringe upon his side of the deal by lying concerning the parameters of the mission, in such a way that would put at risk a shinobi unprepared… he is to be dealt with upon discovery for acts of treason against the Hidden Village of Konoha."

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw Tazuna take a step back.

"Please! I have a nephew, and a daughter, and they'll hate Konoha for life if I die! And the people of Wave, they'll—"

"You have lied and admitted doing so on the mission parameters. A Yamanaka will extract this memory from my brain and confirm it. The Shinobi Code is clear."

The kunai flew faster than Naruto could see, and in an instant Tazuna's head rolled on the ground as the blood sprayed around them.

"I take it there is no need for confrontation," Aoba replied smoothly.

"There isn't." The two chuunins were quick to nod. "We'll take our leave then… always a pleasure doing business with Konoha. Need anything in Wave area —we'll be there for a while— you just need to ask."

"I'll tell the higher ups."

And then the two Chuunins ran back on the trees, disappearing from sight.

Aoba turned to look at his Genin, finding two of them pale beyond their wits and covered in smudges of blood and one emotionless looking even _bored_ about the entire ordeal. Somehow, he had no doubt Sai would be unfazed by this. Sakura and Naruto on the other hand…

The girl just stared. She stared at the now headless body with tremors running through her body. She gulped down anxiously, before falling on her knees to the side and retching on the grass, her hands clawing at the ground as she began to sob.

Naruto instead just looked. He looked at the body with a mixture of disgust and self-loathing, something that actually made Aoba think. What did the boy have to give himself the fault of? It wasn't him who had written the shinobi code, and unless he had known about Tazuna's lie…which he doubted, since he too couldn't actually 'read' the mind of people, there was little he could have done. Maybe it was just some sort of 'saving people' thing he had?

No, everything went against that theory. The boy was introverted and didn't trust quickly. He probably was disgusted that the man had lied, and was accusing himself of not having seen it sooner to prevent Sakura from seeing it. He doubted there was anything romantic in that 'knight in shining armor' feel, but if there was he'd curb it out with time. Sakura was a Kunoichi and he was a Shinobi. Sure —they were teammates, but that meant they had to complement and support one another, not 'protect the weak link'.

"Sakura, can you stand?" he asked calmly.

"Oh god… god, oh god… you killed him," Sakura whispered trembling. "You just…you just _killed_ him."

"Protocol Nine, Haruno Sakura, isn't taught in school. Someone most certainly had to have asked why it isn't even written on the school book in your class —there's always a book smart who asks. What did your Chuunin-sensei say when queried?"

Sakura knew the answer —always the smart girl, she had been the one to actually ask that question— and she couldn't help but feel a sting of anger at her naïve self who wished for praise. Really, she didn't want to know in that way!

"We would learn it on the field," she whispered hoarsely. "He also said we shouldn't hope to know it soon…"

"Exactly," Aoba nodded, taking out a scroll and unrolling it. Tazuna's corpse was soon placed within the seal, and as it was closed and snapped shut with a red ribbon, Naruto looked positively sick.

"Every Jounin is assigned three of these scrolls when taking on a Genin team," he spoke calmly. "And every Jounin generally wishes he will never have to use them for his students. This mission is over —we will be paid for a day's duty, while the Village takes care of warning the family of what has transpired."

"Was there no other way?" Naruto asked softly, as his arms went to help Sakura back up, to stand on her feet.

"Protocol Nine was always given leeway, since it is sometime hard to discern between willingly hiding facts or happenchance: sometimes a group of people you define as 'bandits' might be A-rank Jounins hiding themselves as such. A civilian would know no better of course, but since this was a pretty clear-cut case, there was only one possible end. Since the war with Iwagakure and the Kyuubi's rampage on Konoha," here Naruto winced hard, "Protocol Nine has become stricter: we can't lose shinobi to high-ranked mission they are unprepared for."

"I see," Naruto mumbled. "But what about his country?"

"It doesn't matter," Aoba replied. "If the problem will trouble the Land of Fire, the Daimyo will send a request to the Village. If it doesn't, then it is not our business unless the Daimyo of Wave pays us. We are not tasked with meddling with other countries' inner turmoil —especially if shinobi are hired for it— and I will not risk your lives for this. Do you understand me?"

There was silence for a moment, before Naruto meekly nodded.

"Good, then let's get back. We will reach Konoha by nightfall…in the meantime…" Aoba's right thumb went up as the Jounin bit onto it, making a strange set of hand-signs before slamming his right hand on the ground. There was a small puff of smoke mixed with black feathers, and the next instant a crow appeared on the ground. The crow held a strange mailbag strapped to his shoulders, empty but probably able to safely carry small packages.

"Tengu? Tengu!" the crow cawed, flapping its wings. "Tengu!"

"Yes, you're Tengu," Aoba sighed as he took the scroll with Tazuna's body. He grasped a brush, before writing a black nine upon the surface of the scroll. "Deliver this back to Konoha, Torture and Interrogation department."

The crow cawed, before turning its glinting black eyes around, as the scroll was hoisted in his backpack. Flapping its wings fast, the beast took to the skies in a moment, flying away.

"We can start going back then."

The puddle of blood that belonged to Tazuna remained behind, drying beneath the rays of the sun. Sakura gave hesitant glances back at the pool, before biting her lip and proceeding together with her team. She couldn't help but keep on hearing the old man's words, and really…was a lie worth a life? The man had lied, but did they really have to execute him on the spot? Couldn't they come to a deal of sorts, like sending another team?

Sai remained unfazed. The Hokage would probably be told of the event and then look into the matter. Should there be a risk or a potential benefit for Konoha, the leader of the village would send a small group of Anbu to oversee what needed to be done. If the swordsman of the mist proved to be valuable, he would be taken in and then used as an exchange token with Kiri for some of the 'forgotten behind enemy lines' shinobi.

That was the reason the 'liars' were executed. It sent a clear message that Konoha wouldn't deal with such a thing, while secretly it might or might not do it all the same.

Of course, only the Daimyo would be notified, and only once Konoha's reward was already secured in some form or the other.

Naruto remained quiet, so quiet that Aoba was starting to think he had shocked the boy out of his wits. It took a moment for him to understand that the boy was actually mumbling something, and that the something was a question for him.

"Am I a horrible person, sensei?"

"Naruto?"

"I…I wished him dead, for how he acted. Am I a horrible person, if I'm not sad he died? If I don't care about his nephew or daughter? Am I evil?"

"No," Aoba answered, shaking his head. "You're just human."

"Ah," Naruto grimaced. "I'm not just human though."

"Naruto, you want to tell your teammates?" Aoba inquired, giving a gaze over to Sakura and Sai, who both seemed unfazed by the boy's words…but Sakura's facial expressions were giving off the wrong vibes. It wasn't curiosity, but fear. Fear as if…as if she already knew.

Sai on the other hand was as emotionless as a brick wall. Sometimes he wondered if the boy had been given emotion-training…maybe his private teacher?

"Sakura already knows," Naruto said. "Sai…Sai, I'm the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi."

"Oh," the dark haired boy replied. "That doesn't change the fact you're without a dick."

Naruto snorted at that, barely repressing a slight twitch of his lips that would have turned into a grin, had he let it go.

"Sensei, I think mine has to be one of the worst secrets to ever been held as such in the history of Konoha," the boy retorted.

It was in a surprisingly awkward silence that the rest of the trip reached its end and as they neared the gates of Konoha, a small group had already formed. A small group of civilians to be more precise.

"Sensei?" Sakura whispered in surprise. They seemed to be waiting for someone, and as their group neared the civilians who saw them stirred and called the others pointing at them. Naruto stopped. He stopped even before they passed through the gates, a few meters away from the wide wooden doors.

"You monster!" a voice screeched as soon as they stepped within the village. Sakura stilled and turned back, to where Naruto had stopped and then back to where the civilian in question —an old woman in her eighties— had screamed pointing at the boy. "You hadn't taken enough, did you!?"

"Madam, what is going on?" Aoba-sensei asked as he neared the old woman, who was frantically trying to claw her way to where Naruto was.

The Chuunin guards were holding her back, as one of the two —Kotetsu if she wasn't wrong— was at the same time gesturing something from above.

"Ayame was the sweetest girl ever!" a loud voice, coming from a young teenager, screamed in the small crowd. "And now she's dead because of him!"

Sakura frowned. Ayame…the name was familiar, why?

She turned to gaze at Naruto, only to find him frozen in shock. His eyes were like those of a frightened rabbit, one who he is just about to take flight.

"I didn't…" he stammered out.

"You fucking demon!" a woman in her fifties spat out, spitting in Naruto's direction. "The third was kind not to smother you in your crib, that's what! You did this!"

"No, I—"

"Just go and die!"

"Die!"

"You haven't taken enough of us, have you!?"

"We'll have our revenge!"

"I hope you die!"

"Sakura! Sai! Take Naruto back to Shimura-san's home!"

When her sensei barked the order, Sakura finally snapped out of her shocked stillness. So she went right back out to where Naruto had stopped, grabbed him by the hand and yanked him to follow her. She tightened the grip on his hand as the boy seemed to be looking down in silence.

She pressed her lips thinly one against the other as she passed by the screams and the curses sent their way, with Sai in tow. One of the civilians actually flung a rotten tomato in their way, but Sai was fast and cut it in mid-air.

"It's all right," she tried to sound cheerful. "Everything's going to be fine."

"Ayame's…dead," he whispered hoarse. "I'm…I'm the one who—"

"No, you didn't," Sakura snapped back at him. "I'm sure it's a misunderstanding."

"No, no. I…I told them. She was…poisoning me, I confessed. She…she was imprisoned but—"

"Naruto…" Sakura's eyes softened, as she looked at the downcast and trembling form of the once-blond boy. He had even begun to sniffle a bit. Then, she blinked. "Wait. She _poisoned_ you?"

"I…Yes but…"

"And you knew and said nothing?"

Sakura's cheeks filled with air, before she grasped Naruto by both sides of his jacket and began to throttle him. "You _BAKA_! You don't keep quiet about this! She got what she deserved, that's what!"

"No!" Naruto snapped back. "Sakura, really…no." His tone was soft as Sakura stopped holding him, looking into his eyes for some sort of reason. "I…I mean, I killed her father. She had the right to do it."

"What bullshit is this now? You didn't kill anyone! You can't become a shinobi if you're a murderer, you know?" which was ironic, considering what a shinobi did, and especially since they started the academy at the young age of six. Still, that was in the law.

Naruto just swallowed thickly, keeping his gaze low. "Naruto?"

"It's my fault," he said. "There's nothing else to add. They're right. I just destroyed a family, happy me, huh? Killed them both. Killed. Them. Both. I'm sure Shimura-san is going to be proud of me, yeah, really proud." He sarcastically whispered. "I'll end up killing him too; I suppose that's all I'm good at."

Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before slamming her right hand in a punch straight against Naruto's face. "YOU BAKA!"

She grasped him again, before slamming the boy on the ground and starting to hit him on the chest with her fists. "You stupid, stupid idiot! That's not true! That's not true at all!"

"Cherry," Sai whispered as his right hand stopped the girl's fist. "We need to go. We're attracting attention."

The girl stifled a sob as she stood back up. Naruto frowned: had the girl been tearing up for him now?

"You're not at fault —not for this, not for anything like this— understood?" she whispered narrowing her watery eyes at him. "And if you," she sniffled, "if you think something like this again, then I'll hit you like I hit Sai again. Got it?"

"Why?" Naruto whispered the question out as if it weighed like lead, his throat parched.

"Because I care, stupid. I'm the team leader after all!" she pushed her chest upwards.

"Cherry: who voted you team leader?"

"Well, you're horrible with people and Naruto is a bit shy: so I'm the leader, Shannaro!" the girl huffed.

"You're ugly: I should be team leader. I am the—"

"Shannaro!" another fist flew, and a crater with Sai formed on the street.

Naruto stared at his female teammate huffing and sporting a twitchy grin on her face, as she looked awfully amused at hitting Sai again. The boy just stared at the scene for a moment more, with Sakura ranting at Sai and the other boy replying in such a way that the pink-haired Kunoichi slammed him back in the crater more often than not.

Eventually, he cracked a grin.

The grin turned into a smile.

And then he chuckled, even as the salty tears tasted awfully bitter on his tongue, he couldn't help but laugh at his teammates' antiques.

The two actually looked flustered at hearing him laugh —even Sai had his eyes wide. Sakura was the second one to giggle, probably because the scene hit her in its entirety. Sai was the last, and more than laughing he just moved his head to the side and brought up an eyebrow, but just for an instant the twitch of his lips moved to a small smile, so quick it had seemed nothing more than an illusion…

But it had been there.

Naruto sighed that night, as he was in his bed. He kept his eyes closed, as a memory surfaced from the depths of his mind.

He had been six. He had been hungry, and he had money. People didn't like him, but he didn't let that pull him down. He'd smile and laugh and look around: he was going to become a shinobi at the academy, so he wasn't going to be afraid!

He was a very brave boy for going around the village, even more so when people just didn't look at him. Some were very rude and knocked him down without saying they were sorry, but he ignored those bastards. He had just decided to go back home, when a nice and enticing smell had caught his nose.

That had been the moment he had walked into Ichiraku's ramen stall. That had been the first day he had eaten ramen, the first day he had met people who had smiled at him, rather than glare. That had been…really a wonderful…day.

And so Naruto fell asleep, while just one floor below Shimura Danzo finished penning the latest orders for his Root operatives to smuggle the _cargo_ out of Konoha.

Beneath the bandage, his right eye bled as usual. It would do so for a week, as it was the norm when he used it. The girl had confessed without fault, no lie or deceit had been seen by the Hyuga, and nothing could be said to disprove it. The stall vendor hadn't really poisoned the Jinchuuriki, no. Mizuki had —not alone, he couldn't have done that alone— and the girl had been the scapegoat. The poison had been applied to the chopsticks the boy used to eat, not the broth. The tip of the chopsticks had been repeatedly coated and soaked into poisons of ever increasing variety. Merely looking at the dead cats in the back alley would have told the truth weeks earlier, just around the time Mizuki had left his girlfriend to start dating the stall vendor.

Root operatives had of course disposed of both cats and poisoned chopsticks…

Just like they would now dispose of certain dead weight. Mizuki had run its course.

It was time to change his objective…

The Haruno girl had civilian parents: prone to accidents.

If he cut that off…he could get the girl to stick to her teammates. Emotions and bonds were weak things. His mind suddenly gave him an insightful idea. One that would make the boy under his care 'graduate' from Root training all the same.

If he brought the boy under his fold, and then revealed to the girl that he had killed her parents…

And if he managed to get Orochimaru to play along…

A small smile formed on the lips of the Yami of Shinobi.

Konoha would get his deadly and emotionless operative soon, of that…he'd make sure personally.

The malice that filtered through the shinobi's chakra condensed into spirals, as it slowly merged with the Kyuubi like a thousand of others did at the same time. The giant nine-tailed fox simply grinned. One might say that knowing the opponent's deals beforehand was cheating, but in life 'cheating' didn't exist. And it was his job after all…to destroy, to cleanse and to purify.

The sage of the six paths had been many things, but unfortunately he had believed too much in the world itself. Humanity was not made of saints and heroes. Chakra was not used to help other people, but learned as a mean to kill more. Shinobi were not saviors, but angels of death. Ah, the irony…his grandfather would surely destroy the shinobi world himself, had he still been alive.

Since he wasn't…

That work fell to him.

And his brothers and sisters, if he got them to cooperate.

**Author's notes**

**Chapter's done.**

**Angst-Angst-Angst!**

**Ayame's dead, or is she not? What 'cargo' was smuggled out? Land of Wave mission…done.**

**(Who saw that ending coming?)**

**Now, on to the probable Q&A:**

'**Protocol Nine' has both the 'Nine' which Japanese thing is unfortunate and the fact that I never understood why they kept going.**

**I mean, if we consider missions of the shinobi like military ones, and the 'info' is wrong, you go back straight away. You don't stay there or 'complete' the mission. It's treason, nice and simple. If the info is purposefully given wrong, it's treason once more. Since Konoha has the Yamanakas who can 'mind-rape' there is no need to bring the man back for interrogation.**

**(And his corpse probably can be used to get more infos, maybe a Yamanaka 'only on the dead' mind-use)**

**That said, Ayame's 'execution' is 'faded out' for a reason. You will know more of it eventually, but not right now. Be content with the 'doubt' of whether I killed her or not. **

**AND when I said there was no-one safe, I meant it. If plot pulls in the direction of Sai and Sakura dying…**

**Hell, somebody save me a place in hell.**

**(Bit of a 'sidenote' now for my followers through all 'types of fanfics I write') Concerning Harry Dursley and Chronicles of the King: I just want to wing out as fast as I can 'Sometimes' of the Bioshock fanfic, once that's done, I'll work back on the others. Since Sometimes is pretty easy plot-related and has far less 'weight' to carry on, it's relatively easier to write through it. **


	11. Departing for the Wickedness

Introverted

Chapter Eleven

Shimura-sensei was quiet, as Naruto slowly entered the kitchen the following morning. The bandaged man looked at him with his only eye, the silent question clearly visible behind it.

"I'm sorry —I overslept."

"Normally, in such an occasion, the first words would be something like 'how are you feeling?' or 'is everything all right?' but I will avoid them," Danzo spoke in a low whisper. "I will simply tell you this, Naruto: nothing you can do will change anything that has happened. Let it go."

The boy sat at the other side of the table with his fists clenched, gritting his teeth slightly.

"But if I hadn't—"

"Then I would have," Danzo acquiesced. "Eventually, someone would have noticed. She might have slipped once, Naruto. Would you rather she had poisoned one of your teammates by mistake? You did the right thing, never forget it."

"I ruined a family!" he yelled back, his eyes teary. "I ruined good people who—"

"You did not ruin a family and if anything, she ruined herself by trying to avenge what was but a mistake."

"What do you know about that?" Naruto sulked. "It was—"

"It was ruled a mistake and the perpetrator punished. One that would not have happened had you been controlled or with a guardian, but which happened all the same in your youth. You played a prank, the man saw you, and when he was about to hit you Teuchi Ichiraku intervened. The scuffle that ensued ended with the man dead and your 'victim' hospitalized. You had no fault in it."

"It's easy to say," Naruto whispered. "I don't remember any of it."

"Then who is to say you actually are at fault?" Danzo remarked calmly. "You were there, drenched in blood. You could have been a victim too: it is not such an impossible feat after all."

Naruto closed his eyes, wincing as he probably tried to remember what had happened…but failing miserably.

"No, I…I'm sure I was alone."

"If you say so…" Danzo's reply was a bare whisper, before the bandaged man merely returned to sipping his tea. The breakfast was consumed in silence, as Naruto then began his usual morning exercises under the watchful gaze of his sensei.

Strangely, he only had to do five laps rather than the usual six.

All the more strange was Aoba-sensei, who seemed positively thrilled because of something else. Sai too was surprisingly quiet, as he neared them and Sakura for their usual morning D-rank concerning finding a cat.

This cat in question was Tora, the Daimyo's wife's precious pet animal. It was surprisingly witty of the Daimyo to keep his wife 'hidden' within the Shinobi village of Konoha for her safety. At the same time it was extremely cunning of the shinobi: if the Daimyo betrayed them, he'd lose his entire family.

He wasn't the smartest student of the academy, but even he could see the weight of holding 'hostage' the family member of the ruling party of the country of fire.

The sun was warm and the clouds few, as Naruto's eyes narrowed at the sound of a meow reaching his ears. Sakura and Sai both stilled behind him, as he crouched beneath a chart and gave a quick peek. There the cat was —at least, he hoped it was the right cat.

An ink snake slowly slithered its way beneath the cart —courtesy of Sai, while Sakura crept on the other side. Naruto tensed, ready to jump if the cat ended up running away. There was a loud meowing, a hiss and then a small cloud of dust all from beneath the cart. Few seconds later, and Naruto jumped on the blur that tried to leave the safe haven of the shadows.

Tora the Cat spun around trying to claw at Naruto's face, but holding both of his front paws up and wide rendered the cat unable to strike.

"We have the cat," Naruto commented as he turned to Sai, who took out a bag and then dropped some herbs within it. Sakura looked puzzled as the cat was dropped into the bag, and then said bag was closed.

"What was that?"

"Catnip," Naruto and Sai quipped in at the same time.

Sakura frowned. "And where did you get that?"

"It grows near the Inuzuka compounds, Cherry," Sai remarked calmly. "They use it to train their dogs."

"Catnip is liked by cats, not dogs!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Precisely."

The pink haired girl blinked. What did Sai mean with that now? Why would growing catnip train dogs…

"Oh," she mouthed as she realized the reason. It was obvious in retrospect…and it made her a sick green. "They hunt the cats?"

"Well, there aren't any strays around here, are they?"

"And how do you know about that, Naruto?" Sakura remarked hotly. "Sai's strange and I'm not surprised, but what about you?"

"I had a cat once," he shrugged.

_Didn't last_. Went unspoken.

The girl seemed to understand, albeit she did get most probably the wrong idea…with the same result.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it was a stray…didn't even think he knew I was supposed to be his owner: he just passed by every now and then —one day he stopped."

They hauled the bag back to the Hokage tower in silence, their sensei already waiting for them on the bench outside with a small notebook in his hands. He was scribbling furiously on it while murmuring 'contingency' and 'plan' mixed with words like 'just like planned' and 'plan omega-five'.

The moment they stepped near him, he stood up and stared at the three of them. "I got us another C-rank mission, this one is supposed to contain nothing more than a rough terrain: there's been an avalanche near the Konoha-Kiri border, and we're to escort a medic team to evaluate the situation. We are to meet with Yakushi Kabuto, their team leader, tomorrow morning. It will be a long three-week long mission. You should be prepared for it, which is why…" as he trailed off with his voice, he handed over the small booklet he had been furiously writing on to Sakura.

"Sakura, these here are the plans and the contingencies to enact. There is an index at the beginning. You are to read and memorize entries one through ten before tomorrow morning...and good luck, you're the Team Leader."

"Yes!" she exclaimed, before quieting herself at the glare of her sensei. "I meant…yes, sensei," she meekly whispered. "I'll do my best."

"See that you do: the lives of your teammates are in your hands, after all —eight o'clock, tomorrow morning, _do not be late._"

Then their Jounin was gone, leaving the three of them alone.

"Want to get something to eat?" Sakura hazarded. "It's nearly lunch hour."

"Where?" Sai inquired.

"I know of this Yakiniku shop…it's also a barbeque with fixed prices so…"

"Could work," Naruto shrugged. "Henge."

Sakura winced at the sight of Naruto's face literally changing under her gaze to resemble that of an indistinctive kid with black eyes, no whisker marks and his usual dark hair.

"Naruto…"

"It is better this way, Sakura," he shrugged. "I doubt they'd say anything, but I'm not in for poor service. After what happened with Ayame…I don't think they'd take kindly to me in their establishment."

"That's stupid," she blurted.

"That's people." Naruto shrugged then, as he gestured for her to make the way.

They did end up at the Yakiniku Barbeque. They also ended up sitting right next to Team Eight, with Aburame Shino and Hinata Hyuga looking at them with a surprised expression. Hibachi, the third student, was instead eating messily without much of a regard.

"Haruno-san, Saitou-san," Shino began, before turning his inquisitive gaze to Naruto's henged form. "…"

"Shou Saitou," Naruto blurted out quickly.

"Whe-Where is Na-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked meekly, her pale white eyes settling on Sakura's form.

"He didn't make it," Sai replied calmly. Silence fell in the room, probably Sai expecting Sakura or the henged Naruto to add something, or maybe just finishing delivering his 'report' on the matter. Still, that didn't actually sound as if Naruto was alive, and if somebody had a very active imagination…

Hinata shrieked as she ran out of the shop crying.

"What just happened?" Sakura's gaze was perplexed as it locked with Shino's shades.

"I suspect there has been a linguistic miscommunication. Added to Shou-san's Genin forehead protector and the lack of explanation, it is highly possible Hinata believed Uzumaki-san to be dead."

Sakura began to splutter. "W-What!? No! He's fine! He's not here at the moment but he's fine! He had better things to do elsewhere, that's really all!"

"Bah!" Hibachi chose that moment to make his voice known. "What that girl sees in that bastard…"

"Hey, that's rude to my teammate," Sakura snapped.

"He's a monster, he deserves worse," Hibachi mumbled. "He tore apart my uncle with his bare hands, that's what he did! He's going to kill you too, that's what he's going to do."

"Apologize," Shino snapped curtly. "Uzumaki-san is a Genin of Konohagakure no Sato and he is not mentally unstable: logic dictates he would not have graduated otherwise."

Sakura's eyes trailed off to where Naruto was sitting, his body now tense and ready to depart.

There had to be a story behind this, she was sure of it. Still, any thought of thinking about it went astray when their meat arrived, ready to be cooked and eaten…or scarfed down, if one was hungry. She supposed Hibachi had renounced apologizing, because she didn't hear the boy again and by the time her eyes resettled on the nearby team, both Shino and the rude boy had left.

"What was he talking about?" she finally asked, her voice low.

"Nothing," he whispered back. Sakura's right eye twitched. Naruto always settled his gaze downwards when he lied, and his tone always became slightly softer. It was unnerving.

She knew she was going to hit the boy low, but on the other hand she did want to know what had happened: heck, for all she knew maybe Naruto was accusing himself as always of something that wasn't his fault to begin with.

"Aren't we your friends?" she asked then, Sai stiffening to her side. "We can help you prank him if he's—"

"No," he replied quickly, far too quickly. "No pranks —nothing at all. He's right and that's probably all there is to say on this."

"Naruto…"

"No," he snapped, abruptly and angrily. "Let it be."

Sakura flinched and then let her gaze return to the food, deciding to munch rather than eat while her brain tried to figure out why the boy was being so defensive. Hibachi had an uncle in the market if she recalled correctly…wasn't he the one heavily bandaged she had seen beforehand?

In any event, it wasn't as if there was something she could do now. Naruto didn't want to talk at all, and she couldn't force him.

So there she was, in the awkward silence, when Sai spoke next.

"Cherry: what's in the book?"

Sakura cocked her head to the side, before understanding reached her as she hastily made her way to grasp the book from her pocket. She carefully opened it, and after coughing slightly began to read in a low crisp voice.

"Members of a team should be denoted as 'TL' for Team Leader, 'RF' for right flank and 'LF' for left flank respectively. It is advised to possess Shurikens and Kunais, as well as a short-range blade for—"

"That's boring: get to the contingencies!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sakura sighed, before flipping a few pages of general advice and words of caution.

"Contingency Alpha: in case of hostile encounter unforeseen, whereas the enemy appears to not be a shinobi, stalling enemy forces is advised with two members holding the line while the third flanks from side or back."

"That's easy," Naruto pouted. "Something else?"

"Naruto!" Sakura chided the boy, "let me read…" she muttered, quickly scanning through the pages.

"Contingency Beta: in case of non-hostile but unforeseen encounter with civilian-armed forces, the shinobi should remain quiet and unseen. Refer to contingency Alpha should a scuffle ensue."

"I wonder why Sensei didn't ask us to memorize them too," Naruto muttered. "I mean, if you do memorize them, what's the use of yelling them out loud to us if we don't know them?"

Sakura blinked. "Naruto: you're a genius."

"Uh?"

"He wants us to memorize them, but he didn't tell us. Maybe he wanted to see if you'd let me learn everything alone or if you'd help me with it."

Naruto's face scrunched up for a moment with the effort of following Sakura's reasoning, before he actually grinned and nodded back. "Yeah…I get it!"

"Good, so we can start with contingency Delta as…"

The light-hearted groan removed the awkward silent tension at the dining table, as the tree Genins poured upon the ten contingencies to remember.

The next day, early in the morning, team Thirteen was ready to depart. They were waiting for their sensei and the clients when team Seven arrived, soon followed by team Ten.

Naruto frowned and flinched slightly when Sakura's blurred form squealed and jumped to grasp Sasuke's arm, while Ino did the same with the other. Shikamaru and Chouji moved closer to him and Sai, as Kiba seemed like a kicked puppy at the sight of Ami trying to fight the two girls off Sasuke.

"Troublesome…taking a mission out?" Shikamaru asked.

"Avalanche near the border," Naruto remarked. His voice was bitter, even though it shouldn't have been: it wasn't unexpected after all for Sakura to just jump on Sasuke at first sight. It was just…unbecoming of what the girl had become, he supposed.

"The same," Shikamaru muttered.

"Hey guys!" Kiba exclaimed moving closer. "You here for the avalanche too?"

"Seems so," Shikamaru nodded. "How's your sensei?"

"Good," Naruto replied. "Yours?"

"Nice," the dark haired Nara answered back, before sighing heavily again. "What a drag…"

"It's going to be easy then," Chouji commented between munching noises. "We're nearly all here —all of the rookies that passed…"

"Must be a pretty big one if there's all this get-together," Kiba said. "Reckon they'll need us for something more?"

"Misery attracts misers," Shikamaru replied. "We're there as a show of strength, and since the area is close to the border, the extra Jounin are assigned for security against infiltration."

"So why the C-rank?" Kiba asked. "Enemy shinobi give it a B-rank!"

"It's probably not a choice," Shikamaru drawled out. "There are not enough shinobi of Konoha, normally Chuunin would be assigned for something of this magnitude, but after the war and the Kyuubi…we're barely scrapping by the numbers. Even the 'Will of Fire' is just another way to say 'keep your troops alive, because we don't have any more to send' and that's just plain troublesome." The Nara sighed again, turning his gaze to the skies.

"I could have been born a civilian," he mumbled. "Less troubles."

"Are you all ready?" a new voice reached Naruto's ears, as he turned to look at a silver-haired shinobi with a mask covering his face. He was the last one to arrive, even after the rest of the team had assembled.

"You're late!" Ami and Kiba both screamed at their sensei, as the man simply chuckled back as an answer.

"Hatake-san," Aoba stiffened visibly. "It is an honor to be assigned to your guidance."

"Mah, mah…no need for all this," the man —Hatake— replied with his right hand raised in a dismissive gesture. His other hand was busy with an orange covered book, and as he gave a careful gaze to the 'troops' he had been assigned…

The Jounin, ex-anbu, froze slightly at the sight of Naruto's cerulean eyes looking at him with something akin to distrust. He didn't know why, but somehow deep down, the only thought he could possibly make up to answer those eyes was simple and yet traumatic all the same. The boy knew.

It was usually referred to as 'mind-reading' by the Torture and Interrogation department, but in truth it was a mere looking for gestures and slight movements within the facial muscles. The Sharingan could memorize faces and their expressions, thus another reason why the Uchiha clan had been chosen as the Konoha's police force: you couldn't lie when they could recognize the muscles for 'liar' on your face. He had a loaned sharingan, but that didn't change the fact that indeed, the boy did not trust him.

Maybe it was the book, but that should have earned a perplexed expression —like the type the pink haired girl had— not one of concealed disgust and anger.

"Are we all here?" he asked then, before showing his slight eye-Genjutsu of the smile to the Genins.

"Kakashi, you're the one late." Sasuke snapped crossing his arms over his chest.

"You teme!" Kiba yelled too, "We're all here!"

There was a moment of silence, before the silver haired Jounin simply shrugged and decided to take point. Aoba remained slightly behind, deciding to compile the paperwork for the departure of his team…something which the other didn't do.

"Sakura, back in formation," as soon as their Jounin said those words, team thirteen was already flanking the man. Sakura was a bit recalcitrant, but in the end she dropped her head between her shoulders and obeyed. Naruto gave her a small glance, before schooling his features and returning to stare ahead.

Their clients arrived on time, a few Chuunins with the Konohagakure symbol on their forehead and a few scrolls packed with medical necessities on their backs. The man in charge had short silver hair, and a pair of thin rimmed glasses. Naruto had seen him a few times during his stays in the hospital as one of the Chuunins assigned there, but he had never exchanged words with the boy.

"We can go," their Jounin-Leader, Kakashi Hatake, commented after a few whispered words with the Chuunin-Medic.

"Finally some action out of the village!" Kiba exclaimed. "I'm going to show you, Uchiha!"

"Dream on, mutt," Sasuke retorted with a snort.

"What did you say!?"

The noisy banter of Kiba with Sasuke —the Uchiha ignoring the Inuzuka after the first few words— continued throughout much of the day. The fawning and then the slight bickering of Ami also reached Naruto's ears, as his eyes settled on the other teams. Shikamaru was literally dragging his feet, while the Yamanaka girl was whole-heartedly lamenting the state of her toes and the possible blisters. The Akimichi instead was quiet —albeit sweating quite profusely— and probably the only one with the stamina to keep on going.

Naruto was inwardly pleased.

His team was the fittest, and with Sakura's eyes roaming over their surroundings rather than at Sasuke, everything was right in the world once more.

As they camped for the night, his attention was caught by his sensei's gaze steady on him. He frowned slightly, but so too did the Jounin before gesturing for him to take the spot next to him. Naruto obeyed quietly, looking curious at such a development.

"Naruto, how are you holding up?"

Naruto blinked. He lowered his gaze on the ground as he clasped his hands together. "I'm fine."

"All right," Aoba nodded somberly. "If you want to talk about it, I'll—"

"I'm the one sleeping next to Sasuke-kun!" Ami yelled in that moment, breaking the silence of the night.

"No you're not!" Ino snapped back. "I'm sure he'd rather have me than—"

Sakura was already standing up, ready to go and give her own opinion, when Sai surprisingly grasped her by the arm and held her down with a gaze that could probably kill. The girl froze at such a serious look, especially when her emerald eyes settled on Aoba's own scowling face.

Naruto stilled like a rabbit caught in front of a snake, especially when he saw his Jounin-sensei stand up and quietly make his way towards the Jounin-leader. The other Jounin, a bearded man who had been lazily puffing a cigarette while playing shogi with Shikamaru, looked at the scene with a half-bored look.

The two girls squabbled, completely ignoring the gazes of disbelief settled on them by the Chuunin-Medics.

Both Aoba and Kakashi left the camp after a few terse whispers, leaving behind the two teenagers who were right then starting to pull each other's hair out. Sai remained quiet at his spot, his hands moving to grab his drawing book and a pencil. Silently, Naruto's teammate began to draw.

The Jounin-sensei returned a few minutes afterwards, Aoba visibly fuming while Kakashi seemingly impassible. Finally, everything quieted down as both Sai and Kiba took the spots next to the Uchiha, while Naruto stood with Shikamaru and Chouji, leaving the three girls to stay shoulder-to-shoulder. Between every three Genin one of the Jounin-sensei had placed his own sleeping cot near the fire, and with that done everyone fell asleep easily...

If with a bit of shoulder-pushing by the Kunoichi corner.

The look of disgust of the medic Chuunin however, that was something Naruto caught the moment he closed his eyes. He wondered why —especially since it wasn't settled on him— it unnerved him.

The next morning, Naruto woke up to the sound of Chouji stirring and standing up. The Akimichi's stomach was already grumbling so early in the morning, and the blond haired boy couldn't ignore it and go back to sleep. If he had heard it, then the Jounin-sensei had too.

Their departure happened at dawn, after a quick breakfast of mashed dry fruits and careful sips of water to avoid choking on the bar. They quickened their pace through the morning, stopping for lunch near the side of a clearing.

"Who knows how to climb trees?" Kakashi's voice rung through the assembled shinobi.

There was a quiet moment as everyone looked around, the Chuunins snorting as Kiba ranted out.

"We all know! They teach that at the academy!"

Naruto's ears closed off the rest of the dialogue, as apparently the silver haired Jounin had yet to teach his own students about the method in question.

Somehow he could feel there was some hidden meaning behind all this, but he'd be damned if he had any clue what it was about. He brought up his hand and earned himself a surprised look from Sakura, as even Sai did the same.

"Demonstrate," Aoba said.

Naruto bit his lip as he moved near the tree bark, before carefully taking a step and then another up the trunk. He felt the axis shift as the wood now became his new floor and his eyes settled on the tree's top and the sky beyond. He ran upwards then, reaching for the sky and jumping before grasping at a branch with his feet's soles and then pushing against it to gain momentum for a dive.

His feet slid alongside the bark as a sort of brake, and as he landed he looked to his sensei for some type of approval.

He did get a slightly twitching eyebrow as an answer.

The sensei was probably surprised.

"Naruto, what _was_ that?"

"Shimura-sensei said that unless you master the basics you cannot advance," Naruto supplied with a hopeful tone. "Was I doing anything off-rhythm?"

"No," Aoba's reply was quick as the Jounin shook his head. "Not at all, Sai? Who taught you?"

"Private instructor," the boy answered calmly. Their Jounin-sensei said nothing more, as the silver-haired shinobi simply explained how to do the exercise before leaving the rest of the Genins to their own training. Aoba-sensei's face was now even more twitching, as if he had been wronged somehow.

"Very well then," Aoba nodded. "Naruto? Remain to assist your teammate and the rest of the Genins. Sai? You will scout ahead with me."

Naruto stared at his Jounin-sensei for a moment, before calmly nodding and then turning to look at the rest of the students.

Why were _they_ looking at _him_ now?

Even Sasuke was scowling at him —perfect, really. He took just a half step back, before flinching and then taking a deep breath. He could do this. Right? He just had to take this nice and slow.

"M-Move to a trunk," he stammered out. "I'll…pass around?"

He actually asked that, but while Shikamaru just shrugged and moved his way, Sasuke's scowl intensified. Kiba was already taking steps towards a tree, and as the Kunoichi moved too he was soon left alone in the middle of the clearing.

Sakura swallowed nervously, before carefully taking a few steps towards the tree. Her teammates had managed this exercise —even Naruto, who was the near dead-last of the class. It had to be easy then, something she could do with her eyes closed.

She actually managed to take the first step of the tree with ease, and bolstered by that she made a couple more before slipping on the bark and falling backwards with an eep.

He reacted without thinking, taking a few steps in her direction as she fell on the ground with a loud 'ouch'. He finished walking to stand next to the girl, before offering slowly his hand to get her back on her feet. It would have been far more embarrassing to just 'stay' in the middle of the clearing after all.

"It's more difficult than it looks like," Sakura murmured.

"Ha! Take that Forehead-Girl! I'm already here!" Ino exclaimed the next instant, puffing her chest out from the side of the tree. Maybe she was a bit too 'natural' to just have begun training. Naruto kept his thoughts for himself as he saw how the blond haired girl seemed to be looking more at Sasuke than Sakura's situation.

"Shut it Ino-Pig!" his pink-haired teammate snapped back. "I'll get up there before you!"

"Ha! Want to bet on sleeping next to Sasuke-kun!?" Ino shot back.

"You're—"

Naruto pulled her up as the girl had gripped his hand.

"On!" she finished.

In the next moment, Ino calmly walked all the way up to the top. She then smiled, winked, and jumped down with grace to land on the ground. To add insult to injury, she even went as far as 'slapping' her backside as she swayed her hips, while walking towards Sasuke.

Naruto had suspected as much. He should have warned Sakura, but he hadn't wanted to interrupt the two girls' bickering.

"She lied! She had to have known how to do the exercise, I'm sure she— aargh!" Sakura screamed to the sky before returning to the tree. She slammed her right foot against it, repeatedly letting loose a few choice words. Meanwhile Ami was actually reaching half of her tree's length, and was huffing and panting as she jumped back down gracelessly.

"Naruto, how did you do it?" Sakura asked then, her eyes zeroing on him. He felt mildly uncomfortable now. What if he gave her the wrong suggestion? What if he wasn't right with his method? Still…what did he have to lose?

"Concentrate your chakra on your hand first, and find the correct amount," Naruto muttered to Sakura as he moved behind her. "Take it easy, don't be emotional and keep your chakra tight."

"Touch the tree with the hand: if it sticks, you have the correct amount. Then try and get that same amount to your feet, and keeping calm reach for the top. Don't fret and don't lose concentration."

Sakura nodded, and then carefully moved her hand to press against the bark of the tree. After a while she pulled the hand back and smiled before taking the first steps once more on the tree. This time, Sakura reached the top at her second try, and as she girlishly yelled her success…

She fell.

Right on top of Naruto.

"Ouch," Naruto groaned as he felt the weight of Sakura on his stomach. What was it with the girl and his ribs!?

"I'm sorry!" Sakura blurted out as she quickly scampered away from his chest. Naruto breathed as he stood up, shaking away the dirt from his jacket. He shook his head, waving off the girl's excuses.

"Sorry, sorry! You're all right then? Should I get someone?"

The medic-Chuunin leader, Kabuto, was already walking towards them while pushing the rim of his glasses back at the top of his nose.

"Is everything all right?" he asked.

"The Jinchuuriki might be valuable study material," the cooing voice of the Kyuubi whispered into Naruto's ears in that precise instant. "His flesh would probably be wonderful to rip apart, his muscles could be torn and his bones broken —I shudder to think what I could do with such a body, if only Orochimaru-sama gave me permission…this mission would be his last."

Naruto took a few steps back, shaking his head.

"I'm fine! Really!" he yelled out with a bit of fright and loud enough for everyone to actually stare at him. Couldn't they stare at someone else!?

"He was probably scarred already, can he not sustain physical contact with others maybe?" the Kyuubi whispered with a grim chuckle. "I wonder the tone of his bloody flesh; would it be firm or stringy? Can a Jinchuuriki survive brain damage, now that I think of it? Would plunging two digits into his brain actually impede him? Would splattering his brain cells? What about the Kyuubi?"

Naruto felt sick.

The fact the Kyuubi was actually providing him with mental images of the things the Chuunin was speaking of didn't bode well at all. He felt worse than sick.

He felt the need to retch.

"Uzumaki-san?" Kabuto's voice was kind.

His face was smiling.

He was showing good, soft emotions.

_THEY WERE WRONG ON HIS FACE._

Naruto didn't know when his brain went haywire and he silently began to scream within the confines of his head.

"Hey, Naruto, you all right mate!?" Kiba's left hand touched his shoulder.

The next instant Naruto's sword was stilled three millimeters from the Inuzuka's left eye, as the dog-boy paled and blanched —before falling backwards on the ground, his breathing ragged. Naruto's wrist had been caught by Kakashi, who had apparently been keeping an eye out on what was going on.

"Calm down," the silver haired Jounin spoke firmly. "Breathe, slowly."

His heart was still beating erratically, his eyes trembling and looking around for escape routes. He felt like a trapped mouse. He wanted to run. He wanted to escape. He wanted to claw at the man and get out of there. He wanted to just…to just go away.

"Let. Go." He croaked out. He couldn't feel the fingers on his hand. He didn't know whether his wrist was cracked or not, but he knew he'd rather die than let that smiling teen look at it. Dying seemed a better option than anything that _sick and twisted as fuck_ boy was thinking.

Anything.

"Is he prone to these…episodes?" Kakashi asked then, turning to Sakura while still holding his wrist.

"Ah…Ehm…No," the girl stammered out.

"I see," the Jounin remarked. "You calm now?"

Naruto breathed more slowly now —without realizing it, he had actually calmed down. He nodded.

"Good!" Kakashi remarked. "Now kids, play nice."

That said the man finally let go of his wrist. Naruto sheathed his weapon again, slowly inching away from Kabuto and towards the far end of the clearing.

"Nar—" Sakura tried, but he ignored her. He didn't realize it, but he was trembling and shaking like a leaf as he settled down with his back against the bark of the tree and with both his arms around his legs. He held his eyes closed as he pressed his face against his knees. If he did it strong enough, would the images go away?

Kakashi watched the literal breaking down of the boy against the tree, before seemingly returning to his orange book. In truth, he just needed to think and eye from the corner of his gaze everyone around him.

He could easily rule out the psychological breakdown because of the Genins. Heck, he knew enough war-torn veterans who were twitchy and ready to gut out anyone who came at them from behind —accidents still happened to that day, and those who survived learned never to 'surprise' a shinobi from behind pretty soon. But Naruto was young. He shouldn't have to deal with such a heavy load of stress and nerves.

He knew he'd have to talk to the boy, if not for him at least to make sure he could remain a functional member of his team. There were little of 'cold feet' involved now: he had gone through pretty much the same thing, only his father had committed suicide, and with the horrors of war who ever would adopt an orphan ready to gut you if you just as much tried to hug him from behind?

His sensei had all but adopted him instead.

Now he needed to make Aoba see the problem.

On the other hand, his gaze went for just a brief moment to the Chuunin in question.

Kabuto Yakushi was an average Chuunin. Nothing screamed 'evil' or 'enemy' in his features. He was actually worried about Naruto's sudden breaking down, and was showing all the correct signs of displeasure with himself and sorrow for the damage caused —if inadvertently. Even Sakura felt torn between being 'chastised' and feeling 'stupid' for not knowing of this quirk of her teammate.

Kiba had actually stood back up by then, but was remaining quiet —probably still shocked at the nearly lost eye. Sasuke instead…

Sasuke was a problem.

He knew that gaze. He had seen that gleam, that desire to challenge and to defeat. He didn't like it one bit. If Naruto broke outside, during a mission, so close to a dangerous border like that with Kiri…

He just had to pray the gods it didn't happen.

As he closed shut his Icha-Icha _Cut and Squirm, Kunoichi Edition_ he came to a single conclusion.

Tomorrow, during travel, he would talk to his sensei's son and offer advice.

If Aoba failed to properly argument his case that night, of course. And if the problem didn't seem solved by tomorrow, once more.

**Author's notes**

**And another chapter's done.**

**I think there is some sort of strange misunderstanding going on with the readers.**

**Where, exactly, does 'lack of Jutsu' means 'horrible and weak shinobi'? Is there some sort of… law? I mean…I know many believe sincerely that 'flashy jutsu' equals 'ultra-cosmic power'. I can **_**understand**_** that, mind you. Sending fireballs at the enemy or tearing him apart with a wind blade must be awesome. Then again, shinobis are humans and they bleed.**

**I know you are already replying with the 'but no jutsu till chuunin!? He'll be weak! What about Clans?'**

**And here you have the crux of the problem: reality.**

**Shinobi hailing from Clans have successfully proven themselves loyal to the leaf, and if they were to betray they would be hunted down ruthlessly.**

**We are talking of shinobis here, not public law enforcers who have to go around and can't fire without filing in their request in the office. Underhanded tactics is a must. **

**Since we are talking of shinobi, 'Trust' is the key requirement. **

**A Genin **_**cannot be trusted**_** with Jutsus. Unless someone vouches for them like their CLAN or their Private instructor (who then takes the BLAME in case of betrayal, mind you!) they cannot have jutsus. Furthermore, their Chakra Reserves cannot sustain jutsus. Is it better to fire a single fireball, and then die of exhaustion, or simply learn how to throw a Kunai in the eye of an enemy? You know, the kunai can kill you, flashy jutsu or not, if he gets you straight in the eye and tears your brain.**

**That said a Chuunin **_**can be trusted with some**_** Jutsus. A Jounin can be trusted with **_**everything**_**.**

**Chuunins can be ordered not only through the EXAMS (who are a replacement for war, mind you!) but also by the Hokage. Why? **

**It's simple. 'Exams' **_**are Public Representation of Might of a Shinobi Village**_**. They show-off the **_**Clan Kids, and their surprising shinobi**_** and **_**Kunoichi**_**.**

**But do they show you their very best?**

**No.**

**It's stupid.**

**It's like telling to the world "Hey guys look, we have the mythically powerful Genin X who can use fire jutsus like no tomorrow!" *Next day* "Hey I'm on the Bingo Book!" *Following day yet* "He was killed because the assassin they sent was a water-expert."**

**This, this is what doing the exams means. Clan child don't have that problem: their abilities are 'renowned' no matter what, which means that it is actually clanless, less known shinobi who do the great 'bulk' of the true missions for the leaf. Clan child deal with press and do the general 'good looking missions'.**

**So, there. I mean…take Asuma Sarutobi. Jounin right? Strong guy, right? Is it me or is his skill set limited to using his blades and throwing them with chakra enhancement and spewing out dust?**

**So **_**really**_**…number of jutsus learned or jutsu power =/= powerful shinobi.**

**Hell, anyone watched the Road of Ninja movie? How many 'jutsus' does Naruto use in that film? He runs and slams his fists more than usual too. (And that's a film **_**Kishimoto**_** looked after personally, meaning it's probably **_**fan-pleasing**_** that the latest Naruto chapters have all those flashy stuff like giant wood statues with thousands of hands and ultra-balls of destruction jutsu)**

**Now that this little (and hopefully final) rant on 'Why weak and strong mean absolutely **_**nothing**_** in a realistic Naruto-Verse' let us discuss this chapter.**

**Kabuto is creepy. And he is a Chuunin.**

**Because seriously, if you want to be a spy you don't remain a Genin for life. You move to Chuunin and start working in the hospital and around. You take long-term patrols with your teammates and then you drop off the radar when needed.**

**Now, Naruto knows who/what Kabuto is but…will he talk? **

**And if he does…how will he excuse it?**

**Ino did lie on knowing the exercise to one-up Sakura and get on with Sasuke. Considering her seemed to me the only jutsu requiring precise chakra control (mind-raping, ftw!) it seemed reasonable.**

**That and Shikamaru, but the latter simply lied to sleep off.**

**That's all for the moment folks!**


	12. Bringing Forth the Issue

Introverted

Chapter Twelve

Aoba was wincing, by the time he got back to camp. He had known that Sai was one of Danzo's 'Ne' operatives from the Hokage himself, but he hadn't known his full set of skills. That was the reason he had brought the boy with him on patrol: to understand what he could really do.

He was far more surprised with what had been the reason for Danzo to consider the boy a failure: just because he hadn't completely killed off his emotions didn't mean he was supposed to be discarded like a broken tool. On the other hand, he had someone he could at the very least 'trust' to watch over his other two students' backs.

He landed in a crouched position near the camp, mentally counting the heads and looking for the rest of his team and their whereabouts. Sakura was easily found, standing halfway from the camp to a nearby tree, but Naruto was proving more difficult to track —of course, that meant only a few seconds more of looking around.

He was beneath a tree, his arms surrounding his knees and his face pressed against them. Aoba frowned in distaste at the sight. What had happened?

He ignored Kakashi's pointed gaze —the man hadn't even taught his students some very basic rules or fundaments! How did he think they were going to survive in the real life!?

The Jounin didn't move towards the boy, his eyes settling on Sakura. He had named her Team Leader for a reason: out of the three Genin, she had been the most outspoken and…well, _normal_. She didn't have an extreme emotional baggage or lack thereof of emotions, and for that she was meant to be the voice of reason and logic within the unit.

Among the duties of a Team Leader was also taking care of the rest of the team —not the 'mother hen' mode of course, but something pretty much similar.

If she had read her duties, as he supposed she had, then it was her job and only if she failed would he intervene.

Sakura's shoulders dropped. She had been expecting her sensei to at least say something to the boy. Instead he hadn't given much more than a glance in their general direction, before returning to the campfire. Sai had instead moved near her, and was in wait like some sort of guard dog ready to pounce. She suspected that if she pointed the finger on someone and said 'it was his fault' Sai would start barking.

The mental image made her crack a slight smile, as she finally sighed while pushing her hair behind her shoulders. She took the first step towards Naruto hesitantly, but by the third one she was resolutely marching followed by Sai.

"All right, moping-boy," Sakura muttered as she sat down next to him. "What's your problem?"

"Did somebody stomp your dick, dick-less?" Sai's question made Sakura hiss in frustration at the pale-skinned boy. Really? Was that really how he expected Naruto to answer norm—

Naruto chuckled lightly. He stared at the two of them with such sad blue eyes he looked more like a kicked puppy than a tough and scary shinobi, or a psychopath hell-bent on gouging out Kiba's eyes as he had been earlier that afternoon.

"No," his reply was coarse. "I just…nothing," he mumbled.

"Ah! No," Sakura snapped then. "It's not 'nothing' at all! What sent you on psycho-mode against Kiba?"

"Oh, right," Naruto blinked. "I…I suppose I owe Kiba some excuses."

"What happened back there, Naruto?" Sakura pressed on. "I'd like to think you'd tell us these things," she added. "What if it happens again? What if there isn't a Jounin to stop you and you take away one of my eyes, or one of Sai's?"

"I…" he was discomforted, and that was a good thing in that moment: she knew he was going to crack. She made her best worried expression, slowly letting her left hand drop on his right shoulder.

"We want to help you, Naruto," she whispered. "Let us help you."

Naruto took a deep shuddering breath, as his entire frame seemed to be slightly trembling —as if battling an internal enemy of sorts. In the end, he made a grimace and quietly nodded.

"I saw things," he murmured. "Images. The…the thing," he gestured to his stomach. "Sends them. They…they show what evil people would do, or what they think of doing…and…" he turned slightly green in disgust.

Sakura frowned. "What? What did the K…the thing show you?"

"The chuunin," he whispered coarsely. "He's…he's sick, twisted sick. He…I think he…" he gulped down nervously. "He's just…don't go near him. Not alone. He's not…"

"All right," Sakura's hand pressed firmly on Naruto's shoulder. "It's all right, Naruto."

Sai remained quiet, but he did turn around calmly to give a long stare at Kabuto Yakushi, who was seemingly giving his back to them as he talked to another Chuunin.

"I…thank you," the gratitude in his tone was palpable, like a thirsty man given water. Sakura nodded again, more to reassure herself than Naruto, and then she carefully pulled him up.

"Now we go back to the camp fire, all right? He won't do anything, and you have to apologize to Kiba, right?"

"Yeah," Naruto chuckled a bit louder this time. "Yeah."

"Good!" she emphatically nodded while smiling.

As they returned to camp, Naruto's face slowly but surely got darker like his mood. Still, he managed to stammer out a good enough 'sorry' for Kiba to just huff and accept it. It wasn't a trait of the Inuzuka to carry their grudges far.

That night, Sakura's eyes didn't travel far from Naruto's form…especially because both Ino and Ami had ended up winning the spot next to Sasuke. She bit her lip as she looked at the form of her teammate trying to feign sleep —she could tell, because he was twitching every time he heard something creak or an owl hoot.

She wondered as the night kept going on, what the difference between Naruto and Sasuke was by then. Weren't they both alone? They both were orphans, they both were quiet and keeping on their own…sure, Sasuke was the last Uchiha, a certain way to the noble circles of Konoha and the clans —practically the childhood dream of every single Kunoichi that belonged to a civilian family.

Yet…

Between the two, wasn't Naruto the most approachable?

She closed her eyes and inhaled sharply; there simply was _no way_ she was comparing Naruto to Sasuke. She was in love with Sasuke. Love. She was in real heart-rending love with the dark Uchiha, and she was going to melt his icy heart and marry him.

_Shannaro._

Yet…

She didn't really know though.

And that was what kept her from falling asleep until late.

Yakushi Kabuto opened his eyes slowly as the first rays of the sun touched his face. He felt the body of the Hatake slightly tense through the tremors that rippled on the ground. So he hadn't been wrong —the man was suspecting him of something.

How?

He had moved every single facial muscle down to perfection. He had fooled even the most skilled of Torture and Interrogation, going as up as Ibiki Morino himself…so why was the Jounin suspecting him?

Was it maybe the Sharingan implant? Could it really detect all lies?

He couldn't believe that…then again, he couldn't understand why the Jinchuuriki had been so afraid of him. He couldn't recall any traumatizing event that the brat could have taken part of. Maybe it had been a more general fear of smiling strangers? Maybe the hair?

Mizuki had his same hair color, but last he had checked the man hadn't been discovered as the one responsible for the attempted assassination of the brat. If only there was some sort of reason…

In any event, he wouldn't be acting on his hunch and find a way to silence the boy —unless a truly opportune situation was bound to happen.

He could try and convince the Kiri rebels however —maybe by chipping in a few more resources.

The morning sun finished rising as the camp was packed and their traces hidden before departure. Sakura was just finishing, when Aoba-sensei came right next to her and dropped his hand on her shoulder before giving it a light squeeze.

"Well done, Sakura."

"Uh?" but the Jounin-sensei had already left to check on Sai and Naruto.

She frowned. What had she done correctly?

Hadn't she just done…her duty?

"All right! Let's double up and get there in no-time!" with a loud clap of the Jounin-sensei's hands, they departed once more.

The first thing they realized, as they kept on moving beyond the warm continental weather of Konoha, was the lowering of the temperature and the beginning of a light chilly wind that carried a salty aftertaste. Seagulls began to croak and fly up in the air, as the soil turned muddy and the trees sparse.

The road they had been following up until then was abruptly split, broken off as if something had ravaged it. In the distance, a tall mountain stood with its left side open, bleeding mud like a festering wound on a limb. It didn't even seem something possible to nature, and yet there it was.

For the avalanche to reach so far there had to have been a downpour of epic proportions.

"The dams didn't hold," Aoba-sensei murmured. Naruto's ears twitched as he heard that and turned to look ahead once more.

If this was the situation here, what about further down the road, closer to the seaside or the mountain itself?

They proceeded into grim silence, the mountain growing closer and closer with every step they took. By the time the sun was high up in the sky, the stench of rot fully assailed their nostrils. It wasn't of corpses luckily, but of fishes carried towards the land by the sea and now rotting away under the sun.

"Damn," Shikamaru's Jounin-sensei cursed softly. Some of the fishes were still alive, but too weak to even flap as they exhaled their last breaths.

"There's a corpse by the tree, they haven't noticed it yet," the Kyuubi softly whispered, and Naruto's eyes snapped to the tree in question. He immediately regretted his own curiosity. There it was, hanging loosely with its limbs broken and impaled by a branch that was a dark crimson from the caked blood. Its eyes open and filled with water, as his mouth worked like an impromptu water basin for the hungry crows who had feasted on his face.

It was a horrific scene, and as Naruto visibly recoiled Asuma moved forward to block the view of the tree from the others.

"All right, let's try and get there faster now," he stressed out gruffly.

"Is he for real?" Aoba's thoughts were tinged in bitterness as the Kyuubi whispered them to his head. "Is he really going to shelter his students from this? I'll start the mind-conditioning training on my students soon, and he is still treating them like D-rankers? Seriously?"

"Stragglers at three o'clock," Kakashi quipped in from his position at the head of the group.

As they neared the dirty and mud-filled villagers and farmers, Naruto's eyes zeroed on their pale complexion and skinny faces. They weren't stragglers and they didn't look like farmers.

They looked more like the thieves he was used to see in the bad alleys, wearing farmer clothes and probably hoping to get the relief intended for the real needy. It also explained why instead of being busy trying to repair the shack behind them they were keener on smiling nervously to the shinobi who had just arrived. It was a small group, no more than four men and an ugly looking woman.

"Shinobi-san! Thank you!" one of them exclaimed.

"Did Saotome get rid of the bodies properly?" the Kyuubi chuckled grimly as his voice rung through Naruto's head. "We're not fighting shinobi —farmers are one thing, ninja another."

"Is anyone wounded?" the silver-haired chuunin medic asked then, gently coming forward with a smile on his face.

"Ah no, no-one," the fake farmer answered quickly.

"Then why the blood on your clothes?" Kabuto smiled as the bandit stammered out abruptly.

"I…We…would you look at that!" he exclaimed loudly.

His clothes weren't just muddied, but drenched with blood...it was impossible he hadn't noticed until then. Naruto's eyes shifted to the man's accomplices, the old woman slowly entering the shack and leaving the men behind.

"I'll take the girl hostage," the Kyuubi now cooed to him. "They're from Konoha, they won't harm me and I can make a run for it."

"_When tension breaks over the cup, the water spills. That is the start of every battle. The true shinobi breaks the surface to hit the target, and does not let chaos erupt."_

_The cup was filled to the brim with water, so much that it formed a semi-spherical form over it. The tension of the water surface was what held the contents from spilling, and yet with practiced ease and subtle motions, the wooden stick moved in the air graciously from Danzo's hand and straight through it._

_Not a single drop was spilled._

"_You may ease the stick through or you may plunge it abruptly. There is always more than way, Naruto. Either you act with practice and experience, or you act with speed. Never, however, stop to think until your enemy is dead...they will not give you the same favor."_

The mud at his feet didn't slow him down, as chakra propelled him through the dirt surface and towards the closest of the bandits.

He had already killed once, and illusion or not it helped him: he didn't even flinch as he slammed his Yoroi-Toshi through the ribcage of the scrawny and hungry looking farmer among them. None of the Jounin stopped him, as he removed with a sickening squelch the blade from the enemy's chest —blood splattered out of the wound as Naruto subconsciously held the sword with his right hand.

He mentally berated himself the next instant as he pressed on towards the second bandit, because he had lost time and momentum. He could have more easily plunged the blade through the man's heart, avoiding the waste of time it took to give the Yoroi enough strength to shatter the rib. He should have aimed better.

He stabbed again, but this brigand was better built and with keener reflexes. He was the stereotypical thug, but he hadn't wasted time in taking out a crude looking dagger to try and stab Naruto with.

That was the problem when two knife holders met. They both had to get in close to attack, while offering the least possible area to be hit on.

The brigand wasn't a master of the art, and his brandishing of the rusty dagger was crass enough that by the time he swung the thing down, Naruto's own had shattered the man's left arm —which had come up in defense, bringing the man to scream in pain.

He kicked the brigand in the knee as strong as he could, the bone shattering because of the chakra-enhanced blow. He removed the Yoroi-Toshi from the arm, slamming it again in the neck of the bleeding thug, but as he did and spun he gave the back to the enemy that he had expected the medic Chuunin to take care of.

The shocked leader of the brigand troop simply fell on the ground with his hands clasped together.

"Mercy! We were just hungry! Please don't kill us all Shinobi-sama!"

In that moment, Naruto's wrist that was just then readying itself to flex and carve a downwards arc towards the head of the pleading man was stopped by the hand of his sensei.

"Stop," his sensei hissed.

"They're taking a hostage from inside," he snapped back. His eyes zeroed on those of his sensei, who looked at him puzzled for barely a second before giving him a nod and letting his wrist go.

He was inside within the next second.

"You let him go?" Kakashi queried with his usual normal tone, as if the sudden manslaughter hadn't affected him in the slightest.

"I trust him," Aoba supplied back. "And…I saw enough to think he was more than adequately trained to take on the last one. You should worry about your own."

"Uh?" and then Kakashi turned around to stare at his Genin.

Ami was with her hands on the ground, retching.

Kiba was green and shocked, holding his hand over his mouth and his eyes wide open.

Sasuke was smiling as if the devil had offered him a sweet deal.

Somehow, Kakashi knew he wasn't going to have the problem go away by simply reading _Icha-Icha Mud Fight Club! Special Swimsuit Edition_ out loud_._

The next moment a blur of black and one of pink followed inside the shack.

"There, now I know I taught them all well," Aoba's voice was filled with smugness as he completely ignored the other two students of his who hadn't asked permission. The instructor crossed his arms over his chest, before visibly bringing up his chin.

Kakashi eyed Aoba with a half-bored look. In truth, he was actually calculating if he could rope the Hokage into giving him the other Jounin's team.

Maybe that was the solution to his problem: he could train a team, but only after someone else already trained them.

That would solve quite a bit of hassles, now that he thought about it.

Asuma Sarutobi just looked silently at the entire ordeal, before taking out a cigarette and lighting it up.

His eyes travelled to his own team. The Yamanaka was quiet and ashen faced. Shikamaru was with narrowed eyes and a seemingly calculative look. Chouji had instead turned away from the scene entirely, his head watching the sidelines.

He supposed he had to actually step up their training a bit, if team thirteen entered the Chuunin exams. Quietly he walked towards the surrendering bandit, gesturing for him to follow as he led the bloody looking man away. He'd interrogate him, kill him and hide the body, before returning to the group and talk with the other two Jounins afterwards. Some things the Jinchuuriki had said…they hadn't escaped his ears.

As those thoughts lingered around, Naruto had already dashed through the small shack all the way to a hole on the other side, and back again upon the muddled grounds beyond. He had barely given a glance to the real farmer's family corpses scattered around —the women with their clothes torn made him grimace…but the Kyuubi's whispers enraged him outright.

He could see the faint form of the last bandit trudging along the mud while holding a smaller figure by the hand. He could now hear the woman scream as the child instead cried and tried to put a fight of sorts. Finally, with the muddy terrain and the probably sweating limbs, the grip was lost.

Naruto didn't use his Tanto to finish off the woman. He growled as unbridled rage ran through his body, forcing his hands to jolt forward not as fists or as any movement typical to a style of the shinobi. He just pounced, like a feral animal expecting a feast.

The woman screamed as his _fangs_ tore through her shoulder while his hands carved with his slightly elongated nails her skin to ribbons. Blood gushed out freely upon the muddy ground, covering the puddles of water to a reddish tint. He wasn't done as he abused of the body with his fist, cracking the ribs and bringing up a feral smile as it felt just right to act as a monster, after all shouldn't the wicked be punished?

He tore his right hand through the chest of the dead bandit, removing with a squelch the reddish heart and squeezing it before…

Before a black inky figure slammed into his side, sending him to tumble down on the ground as an ink lion held him and growled at his face.

Naruto breathed then, gasping for air as he felt his rage and anger seep away slowly, replaced by a sinking feeling of dread.

What had he done?

What had he been about to do?

Sai's voice came through as monotone as ever, asking him calmly.

"Are you calm now, Naruto?"

"I…" he coughed, "I am."

"Good," the ink lion jumped back, before disappearing into a puddle of ink on the ground. He stood up, pushing the back of his right hand against his mouth as he silently screamed into it, before his stomach suddenly tensed and then growled. He retched on the ground a mixture of flesh and blood, with his own vomit and breakfast. He gasped and panted for air, as he spat once more on the ground before standing up.

It was then that his eyes travelled past Sai, to where Sakura was holding what seemed like a young child —no more than six— that was keeping a firm grasp on the pink-haired girl's leg.

And the child was looking at him.

Her brown eyes looked at him with fright, her skin pale and her mouth ajar in horror. Sakura's own face was a bit more controlled, but still…

Only Sai was displaying his usual mask.

He didn't want to move. If he did and Sakura flinched, then it would be as good as admitting that the girl was scared of him now.

Who was he kidding? He was scared of himself too.

"He's a monster," the Kyuubi cooed…and as his voice sounded so much like that of Sakura that he just knew he was now reading her thoughts. "He's a cannibal. Is he going to eat me too? Maybe I should have asked to be transferred, am I still in time? What if he tries to eat the child? Can I stop him?"

And then the voice of the beast morphed again, returning to its normal grumbling tone.

"You see, whelp? People are always ready to abandon their kin at the first notice of trouble," the Kyuubi hissed. "But then again, your race made me. The anger and the hatred of your people is what made me strong, and am I not the strongest of all demons?"

Naruto winced and closed his eyes sharply. "I feel sick."

"You ingested human meat —it is a normal reaction." Sai's words were cold and clinical, completely detached and yet somehow he felt that at the very least it was better than Sakura's gaze. The girl held too many emotions flickering through her face and he didn't want to guess, or even listen at the Kyuubi's malevolent whispers about what they meant.

He just wanted to curl up in a corner of his room and ignore the world until the world left him alone in return.

"We should get back," Sakura finally replied. "Naruto," she whispered his name with a slight hesitation. "Are you…"

"I'm fine," he muttered standing up. "Can't help being a monster it seems," he sighed and coughed again. The iron-like taste on his tongue was disgusting, and yet a part of him liked the aftertaste it left on the arch of his mouth. The saltiness and the coppery taste were good tastes, in a small corner of his brain.

He shuddered and shook his head with strength. He wasn't a cannibal. He wasn't the Kyuubi. He wasn't going to let the beast's instincts dictate how he lived his life. He retrieved his Tanto, removing the blood and the mud with the sleeve of his leather jacket to begin with. He'd clean it thoroughly later…in that moment, he had barely the strength to walk in line quietly behind Sakura and Sai.

The rest of the shinobi group was quiet, by the time they returned.

"Report," Aoba's voice was crisp and commanding, and Sakura stood to attention the next instant. Team Leaders were those tasked with making the reports to the officer on the field after all.

"We pursued Naruto who was after the remaining bandit. The woman had taken a hostage but she lost the hold on the child," Sakura's lips now thinned as she looked down at the small and covered in mud boy. "Then…then Naruto charged in and killed her."

"She defended herself?" Aoba's gaze went to the completely drenched front of Naruto's jacket and his trousers.

"Yeah, it was…messy," Sakura murmured then.

"Well, we are tasked to bring relief to the area…we'd better camp here for tonight and try and reach the mountain tomorrow," Kakashi spoke then. "Your Genin can rest, Aoba. Mine and Asuma's will clean the shack from the corpses…"

"Fight me," Naruto's eyes widened as Sasuke moved closer to where the blond boy was.

Sai moved his own body in the middle between the two, before answering back curtly. "Fights between shinobi of rank lower or equal to Chuunin of the same village must be approved by their Jounin-sensei or Team Leaders, and a clear code of conduct must be approved beforehand by both the participants. Step back now, Uchiha-san."

"So you're a coward when it comes to fighting other shinobi uh? Dead-last?"

"His kill-count is higher than yours, Uchiha," was Sai actually starting to get angry? His tone certainly seemed so. "To diminish his worth as a shinobi of Konoha is stupid, because you will always be beneath him until proven otherwise."

Sasuke was about to move, when Kakashi's voice ringed in. "After you remove the corpses, we might discuss it. If Aoba is willing…"

"That's the Team Leader's decision," Aoba shrugged with his eyes now settling on Sakura.

The girl inhaled sharply. There it was.

She knew, she just somehow knew her sensei would call on her to make the choice. She had known from the moment he had looked at her, after Naruto had run off to pursue, that he was _constantly_ testing them. Everything they did was scrutinized and checked, every word was to be intended and there always was a double meaning somewhere. She looked at Naruto, who was breathing slowly and held tired eyes as well as a low shoulders.

He wasn't in any condition to fight, and the stress of what he had done…no, she couldn't.

Then there was Sasuke, who was now looking at her with a small grin. Why couldn't he smile like that when she asked him out on dates, and maybe answer with a yes to boot? She suddenly felt as tired as Naruto probably was. The mud in her sandals and the sights of the shack were already enough to prove her nerves, but the feeling of oppression and anger that Naruto had emanated while tearing apart with his bare hands that bandit? That had really taken the top.

Now she was being asked to choose between her lifetime love and Naruto, her teammate. If she let them fight, Naruto wouldn't probably open up to her ever again.

What had she told him? She was his friend, wasn't she?

Hadn't she renounced Ino's friendship simply because they had both wanted Sasuke?

"I…" Sakura schooled her features and clenched her fists. This was going to be hard. "No."

The grin on Sasuke's face remained for a brief moment, before the raven haired boy's expression turned to perplexity, slight shock and then scowl. "What?"

"I said no," she retorted. "He's in no condition to fight you now, and even if he were the answer would still be no. There's a mission to be done, and all sparring is to be executed within the village to prevent strangers from seeing Konohagakure's techniques. Are we understood?"

"So you're defending the dead last?" Sasuke pressed again.

"No," she replied. "I'm standing up for my teammate and the answer remains no."

"Maah, maah," Kakashi muttered with a light and cheerful voice. "Nothing to do then, the rules are rules. Maybe back in Konoha?"

"I will see for a joint training session when we get back," Aoba nodded. His gaze then travelled to Sakura and the rest of his team, and the Jounin-sensei nodded firmly in approval.

Sasuke scoffed and slammed his shoulder against Sai as he moved forward to get to the shack. The pale skinned boy said nothing, but as he felt something hot within his chest he stopped and frowned.

Was that anger?

Was he actually angry?

"Thanks," Naruto's voice cut through the Root operative's thoughts within seconds. He turned to look at him and curtly nodded.

"What else are friends for, Naruto?" Sakura said then with a smile. To that, Naruto wistfully nodded back with his eyes glazed over.

"Now, what do we do with her?" Aoba asked while pointing at the small child still holding…herself —apparently— tightly to Sakura's leg.

"We're a relief team: we'll drop her off by the mountain area with other farmers," Asuma scoffed.

"I would…advise against it," Aoba remarked again calmly. His eyes travelled over the lithe form of the child. "They'll be in deep with their own problems. We're a relief team, so we could bring her to the closest orphanage while moving around, rather than give her in the hands of people who are already busy."

"We're not paid to be babysitters," Kakashi muttered then, his voice drawled out with a twinge of annoyance. "We'll leave the girl there."

"All right," Aoba schooled his features a moment later, and silence descended in the area —interrupted by Ino's shrieks of disgust at the corpses being moved, or the tensing of the child when the Genin came out.

"We buried them," Shikamaru drawled. "We've got nothing to clean the shack though," he muttered.

"I did clean my sleeping spot," was the Yamanaka actually prideful about wasting water? "I'll let Sasuke-kun sleep there with me tonight! Sucks to be you, forehead-girl!"

To that snappish remark, Sakura did not rise to catch the bait. That actually puzzled the Yamanaka, before she huffed in distaste and resumed bantering with Ami in that moment who had heard her.

Later that night, Naruto's cerulean orbs settled upon the Kyuubi's crimson ones as sleep claimed him in a corner of the shack. In another, Sakura's emerald ones stood slightly open, gazing at the sleeping figure of the black haired boy who had, in front of her eyes, literally tore a heart from another's chest and had nearly _eaten_ it.

Naruto looked around the sewer-like representation of his mind, scoffing at the water and the general state of disrepair the area looked like.

"What was that all about?" he asked then, looking at Kurama.

The nine tailed fox looked at him calmly, but did not utter a single word.

"I'm asking you what that was about! Sakura wasn't really thinking that, was she!? You lied to me!"

"No," the Kyuubi remarked. "I could lie, but where would there be purpose? If I lie, you will no longer believe my words. By not lying, by keeping my words true…you will have no choice but accept them eventually."

"But she…"

"She was afraid of you then, but perhaps she was more eager to earn the sensei's trust than impede you? Humans tend to backstab each other with surprising ease. Then again, shinobi should be well versed in the art of backstabbing, shouldn't they?"

"She wouldn't," he shook his head. "She's not like that."

"Do you know what she thinks then? All of her thoughts? Even children possess malice, you know? It's the selfishness that they harbor without realizing…"

A childish voice spoke then.

"Sasuke-kun will be mine! Stupid Ino should just die!"

"Damn that whore! I'll show her! I'm not going to eat today!"

"Fuck, this is for Sasuke…I can survive this."

"Naruto's always yelling in class, when is he going to shut up, the idiot?"

"Stupid! Stupid! You're just stupid if you think I'd ever go on a date with you!"

"So what if he stopped asking me out? He's still an idiot, quiet or not, he's still an imbecile."

"People can change," Naruto gritted out. "People can become better," he murmured.

"By the same token," the Kyuubi answered back. "People can become _worse_."

"I…don't want to keep on hearing you every time. What you did back there…it was sick."

"What? I was _hungry_. I killed because of a need. You shinobi kill because of greed, so who is the sickest one between us I wonder? Certainly not me."

"Why the images then? Why show me those things?" he flinched at the memory of the screams and the cries, the begging for mercy, the acceptance of death and the tears…it was too much to just watch without feeling something…and what Naruto felt was not happiness. It was grief.

"Because I think it will be highly instructive in the long run," the Kyuubi supplied. "You are not like your mother, or your grandmother. You _listen_. So, maybe, there is hope you will _understand_. I need to be released Naruto, evil will grow unchecked and uncontrolled the more I remain in the hands of man. Why do you think peace did not last, after the show of 'goodwill' of the first Hokage? Because I wasn't there to stop evil from festering and growing. The more time passes…the more wicked the next wave will be, Naruto."

"But…the first Hokage didn't know?"

"_He didn't listen!_" the Kyuubi roared. "Humans learned how to seal Bijuus, how to create Jinchuurikis, and the hunt began for my kin! He would not listen! He refused to understand! We are not mere beasts, mere ensemble of chakra built in the form of giant animals for no purpose but destruction! To keep us imprisoned is to keep us away from our true purpose, from our true objective, the one the sage of the six paths entrusted us! Peace."

The voice of the giant fox was softer now.

"All the hatred of the world, Naruto, converges within me. Do you understand what it means the malice of billions? Do you understand what it means to be filled with the cries of hate of thousands of voices? You cannot understand, but you must know that I wasn't much bigger than a tree, the first time I opened my eyes. If I can level mountains with my tail, smash cities with my might…that is because I was nurtured by the malice of men. A malice I tried to curb…but _you humans would not listen_!"

"I—"

"I don't want your _excuses_!" the Kyuubi snarled. "I don't want your mercy or your fake 'sorry'. I want you to know that every murder, every death, every war could have been avoided had I been free! And for every day you hold me inside of you…you are responsible for those who die because of hatred, of malice and of anger!"

"That's not true," he whispered back. "You can't be telling the truth!"

"I don't need to be called a liar, time will tell," the Kyuubi smirked. "Time always does. You can hide your head beneath the sand, you can close your eyes and press a hand to your mouth, but in the end…in the end truth is inevitable. People always want more than what they have, and eventually…eventually it all must come to an end in war and death, in carnage and slaughter."

Naruto said nothing more, as he felt himself being slammed away from the place where he met the Kyuubi and back on his cot. He opened his eyes sharply then, staring at the darkness of the shack as his keen nose smelled the stench of dried blood and his ears heard the small moans and sniffles of the child curled next to Sakura's form.

He closed his eyes again, praying to Kami that sleep would catch him.

Tomorrow morning everything would be better.

Tomorrow, he was sure there would be something good.

There always was a ray of light after a downpour, right?

As he would discover, the answer was one and only one.

_No_.

**Author's notes**

**I think there's (yet) one more misunderstanding. I'm not saying Naruto will not learn Jutsus. I'm saying he won't be based on them. **

**Let's reiterate a minute, all right? **

**I claimed (and still do) that flashy jutsu do not equal power. A calm and cool-headed attitude does. A silent and thoughtful one does. You can add the flashy jutsu, but if it is wielded by an imbecile, you will only get the flash, not the power. **

**Let's take for example Naruto's wind affinity.**

**He could have learned the Kaze no Yaiba. He could have learned anything from Danzo (who even in canon would have probably salivated at the thought of teaching the Jinchuuriki easily) and yet what does he do with it? He adds it to the Rasengan.**

**And the Fuuton-Rasengan makes noise.**

**Now, if you know you're making noise, why do you insist on calling yourself a ninja? Call yourself a Super-Sayan or a martial artist. I mean, Goku had the 'flash' the 'scream' but he never claimed to be a Ninja. He was a martial artist. He was an alien. I understand and logically accept Goku. He screams to intimidate the enemy. He roars and yells because of adrenaline and lack of composure but it doesn't make him weak. It's expected. **

**This is a story about ninjas. Smart ninjas.**

**I'm not saying he will not learn Jutsus. However the thing is also what Kishimoto says, what the manga portrays and what the end result is.**

**Another thing is me being critical of certain fics. **

**I'd like to point out that it works both ways, as I always wonder why Guest reviewers think authors just keep their mouth shut. If you don't like the story because of the **_**plot**_**, then what are you reading or commenting on it? It's like buying a mystery novel at the library, and then asking a refund because you don't like the mystery novel. I think I made the first chapter pretty clear on what the story would be, didn't I? SO if you keep on reading, and lament it…what else can I do? Scream and rant like a two-years old or just politely ignore you? **

**That said however I still read the criticism, because even if it comes from anonymous reviewers (aka the flamers who have nothing better to do) sometimes they do point out things I might have overlooked.**

**So the question is…is this story similar to another by chance? I don't know. Really. IF somebody else already made this plot-line, this team-trio and the general 'realism' thing…do point me out their story. I mean, if there already is a completed story why the hell am I bothering writing this? I could do something else!**

**So if this story seems similar to another, point me out the story! This happened once already with the Harsh Truth, but there the point was that Naruto's age had become the same as Itachi, so I didn't want to place an OC and used a Itachi-Anko-Naruto team and apparently somebody said it 'lacked originality'.**

…

**(pst. I've got news for you. These are fanfictions. Get it? Original goes to fictionpress)**

**I need to find another way to 'talk to the people' rather than use the author notes. **

**Suggestions? Like maybe a blog, a twitter or a tumblr or things like that?**

**And good on the last reviewer to catch up on the Hokage. You haven't seen what he's doing, how can you judge him?**


	13. First Casualty

Introverted

Chapter Thirteen

"Brown tea."

"Green tea for me, thanks."

The small tea shop in the corner of the sunny Konohagakure wasn't on the principal road. It wasn't placed in a convenient location, and it actually was sort of entrapped between bigger and dirtier houses that prevented even the slightest modicum of scenery from being seen. The shop however earned its keep all the same. The waitress excused herself quickly, before giving a sharp nod to the man at the tea boiler corner and then turning to the purple haired woman in the other corner of the room.

In yet another corner, a similar colored woman —albeit this one's hair was longer— stood calmly sipping her own tea. A few steps away two dark haired and dark eyed men were talking calmly about the recent Chuunin competition, while just across the street a silver haired man was playing Janken with a strange bright green dressed shinobi.

Danzo Shimura thrummed with his only visibly sane hand the table's surface, while Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed out a small trail of smoke from his old lips.

The silence between the two was accentuated by the overall noises coming from the dirty back alleys where drunken homeless men screamed and whores grunted. The general chatter of the main street reached the dingy bar as nothing more than an echo, the filth and the rats scurrying around intertwined with the overpowering stench of urine and refuses.

The screams of a wife and a husband mixed with the cries of a child and the yells to shut up of the neighbors. A dog barked, soon followed by the meowing of a cat.

"I grew up around here," Danzo remarked —seemingly offhandedly, without any real reason as if it were a simple conversation starter. "It was even worse back in the days of war."

"I know," Hiruzen's lips tugged upwards for a moment. "We met in one of these streets, didn't we?"

"Yes, like in a fairy tale. The street urchin and the heir of the Sarutobi Clan, both with a desire to protect Konoha and a promise made on that principle," Danzo frowned slightly —the tea had arrived, and the waitress excused a moment later. "And yet look at us now."

"Some things never change," Hiruzen murmured, eying the tea leaves floating vertically. "Others instead do."

"Indeed, _Hokage_-sama," Danzo muttered. "Indeed."

"You know, I didn't want the post," Hiruzen chuckled. "I really didn't want the paperwork. I would have preferred the duties of Clan head and nothing more. I would have given the position to you if I had been able to; I still would if it wouldn't send the clan heads in an uproar."

"I know that, Hiruzen. I know." Danzo's only eye closed, as he hummed softly. "Tobirama-sensei knew it too. He knew Konoha held up because the major clans had come together, and he simply couldn't put someone without any political clout or large family on the spot as a Kage. The best that could have happened would have been my assassination."

"I placed you among my councilors," Hiruzen remarked. "I tried to listen…but they just kept on asking. Minato seemed the perfect choice at the time, didn't he? He was a good shinobi, loyal to a fault, clanless and yet powerful. After that battlefront battle against Iwa…"

"He broke down," Danzo acquiesced. "He killed more than two-hundred men that day and in less than fifteen minutes. They never saw him coming."

"He had killed before. He had fought before. He was a shinobi, one of the best…why him?" the Sandaime's voice was a whisper by then. "I pulled him off the battle and placed him behind a desk. I can't help but feel I simply swapped the poison vial. It cost me one of my students too," bitterly, the Sandaime looked out of the window for a second before returning his gaze to Danzo.

"You couldn't have predicted the _Kyuubi_ breaking free," Danzo supplied. "Just like you couldn't have predicted Naruto's treatment at the hand of the villagers."

"Nobody mistreated him," Hiruzen retorted quickly and vehemently. "He wasn't hit. There weren't any mobs around. The orphanage caretakers didn't malnourish or harm him. He was kept under surveillance twenty-fours a day by people I could trust."

"And yet in the end he was still broken."

Silence came once more as the waitress made her way back with the ordered beverages. She fretfully left a moment later, as if the surrounding areas were nothing short than hell itself. The two old shinobi stared at one another silently for a moment more, before Hiruzen exhaled slowly.

"I _couldn't_ take him in. The other clans would have asked for a piece as if he was nothing more than a slab of meat. I couldn't have him shared; the other clans would have fought for precedence first and probably forced him under some sort of secrecy seal later. There were the Uchiha to take care of, there were so many troubles following the Kyuubi's wake that Naruto just…I did what I could with him but my title of 'Kami' of shinobi is just a fancy title when you're behind a desk."

"You know, Saru," Danzo chuckled lightly. "I thought you would have intervened by now. Nobody has been going on a rampage because the Jinchuuriki is under my wing, so why not abuse your office and take him under your clan's?"

Hiruzen's eyes narrowed.

"You have dirt on probably all the clans. You're clanless and yet have been a successful head of Anbu in your youth. You haven't officially taken Naruto as your son, so it's more of a teacher formally accepting charge for their student's actions. To the others, you are simply taking unnecessary risks for a broken boy barely above dead-last."

"And yet Jinchuuriki in the other villages are all treated with regards. Fear, maybe, but always in high esteem because of what they harbor and of what they can accomplish," Danzo mused. "A simple thing like an air blade or an earth dragon can —in the hands of a Jinchuuriki— become tool of village-wide devastation. Anyone would see you as a fool to leave him in my hands."

Hiruzen remained impassible as he began to speak.

"Civilians feared the Kyuubi for what it did, and they fear Naruto for the fact he is but a boy of flesh…barely what you would consider a prison, right? And the shinobi fear the boy's loyalty because of how the civilian treated him, and because he is…broken, as you say. Giving him any jutsu which can be powered by chakra is folly in their eyes. A normal shinobi can create a fireball the size of a human torso repeatedly. He could create a firestorm that would outright ravage the entire Konohagakure."

"The trick lies in the balance," Danzo acquiesced then. "I knew that…I just didn't hope you would understand it too."

"I may be growing tired with age, my friend," Hiruzen remarked. "But for the good of Konoha I have accepted the Uchiha's extermination, down to their last infant…except for one. I understood the risks they posed, and the added bonus of denying Orochimaru more power through his twisted means was just the icing on the cake…don't make me prove my foolishness by believing you are training Naruto for anything less."

Danzo smiled briefly. "Was it that obvious?"

"That you're training him to become like his father? That you wish for him to become an instrument of death towards the other countries? That you seek to mold him into a tool of mass destruction? You are not one to waste resources, Danzo," Hiruzen remarked. "The chakra the boy possesses is astonishing. Cooling down his head and making sure he is controlled and loyal to the leaf first is the least I could expect from you."

"You are not afraid I might use him to gain the Hokage's seat?" Danzo was amused there, a tiny smirk etched on his face.

"You want the paperwork?" Hiruzen snorted. "Take it whenever you want. Hokage's make tough calls during the day, but in peace times it's not like there is much to decide. Yet the papers for the approval of missions need to always be triple-copies…" the last sentence was muttered with a slight disdain in the Hokage's voice, as the Kami of shinobi's eyes shifted to his now half-full cup.

"Maybe it's the fact we have to train kids for war," he mused. "That's what we always had different. I know it's necessary, but I don't like it. I hate the fact eleven years old get a sword or a kunai and are ordered to fight. D-ranks are there to get them instilled with the sense of responsibility, and yet it only just gets worse with C-ranks and above…" there was a deep sigh. "I'm really getting too old for this job, Danzo."

"A pity," Danzo took a sip of his own tea. "But then again, it's the world we live in, where the young die and old men live to make a fool out of themselves."

"Concerning the teams for the Chuunin exams," Hiruzen spoke then quietly. "What of team Thirteen?"

"I propose the silent promotion for them," Danzo said. "Have the Uchiha go with the public, make him a Chuunin as long as he defeats someone in the arena and then keep him around Konoha. Once Naruto hits Chuunin, if he is adequately loyal I will get him started on elemental manipulation."

"Fire techniques?"

Danzo shook his head. "Wind."

"Wind is hard to control without patience and…" Hiruzen's words died in his mouth, replaced by a tiny smirk of his own. "I see. Guide the hand, but let it close itself around the enemy's neck by his own will."

Danzo gave an imperceptible nod at the Sandaime's words. "I think, in our best interests, to keep Naruto away from Kage Bunshins unless a war breaks out. The exponential increase in power would make him not only a dangerous risk to Konoha, but also a devastating enemy to battle should he change sides."

"You think it was wise, sending him along that mission?"

"Kiri will not start a war. I do not doubt however there will be enemy shinobi present. The rebels will most likely be the first to contact the Konoha teams, and if such contact were to bring forth…interesting opportunities, my operative will catch them."

"You mean bloodlines," Hiruzen sighed. "I still don't understand what happened to the Kage of Kiri…to tear in half his own country…" the Hokage shook his head. "Terrible."

"Even Hanzo is considered deceased by his men," Danzo mused. "Wind is lacking money and resources. Iwa is still bitter and Kumo is silent and coveting bloodlines. We will grow strong again with time, as long as we stand united."

Hiruzen sighed once more, before repeating himself yet again.

"I really am too old to be Hokage."

Danzo did not speak again. He resented the weakness Hiruzen radiated, but he knew better than to believe it real. The words the Sarutobi spoke were one things, the actions another. Already, he knew the men he had marked as his own 'bodyguards' would die of accidents sometime later. Danzo couldn't concentrate on Root and molding Naruto at the same time.

He had to choose whether to believe in a single Ace or a varied hand of cards. Naruto out of the village just proved that Hiruzen didn't want the boy involved in this. Revealing Root to the public would be a low blow for the village, and nothing more. So the Hokage would strike elsewhere. Even the words on tearing in half his own country weren't made to make him regret his decision, as much as to make him wary.

He was planning a coup after all, even as he drank tea and spoke of pleasant past, he was planning a coup to place himself as the new Hokage. A coup that would use Orochimaru's unsuspecting presence, Naruto's unwavering loyalty and the old teammates' judgment. The best Hokage was the one who could control the village better, and if Hiruzen left the area…

Then whoever had the ear of the Jinchuuriki would naturally become the Kage.

With that position, he would smash the weak wind and annex it, before moving to Grass and Kiri, both devastated by the wars of the past. A bloodline lacking Kiri would fall within days, leaving Kumo and Iwa to deal with. Exchanging a few Hyuga with the Kumogakure shinobis would ensure no attacks for a few days, necessary to get Naruto towards Iwa from the Kiri frontline.

Already, his mind had planned the entire battle strategy for the conquest of the Elemental Nations…

And it all would begin with the death of who once had been his best friend.

Peace could not be achieved by simply walking around and shaking hands, that much had been seen with the death of Hizashi. Peace could only come through the _complete extermination_ of the enemy's strengths, hopes, and forces.

Mizuki had already been dealt with, not before having being interrogated on the possible presence of other spies. Now, all that remained was to make sure to get the right information in the right hands at the right moment…

He already knew _how_.

After all, the documents had been _forged_ to perfection.

_Naruto_

The mountain had collapsed. To be more precise, one side of it had melted as if acid had been poured over the surface, making it crumble away and fall on the ground, where it had drowned in a sea of murky liquid the village at its base. The few men and women that had survived were hard at work, trying to remove the mud and save whatever they could from the sunken buildings.

He was working together with Kiba, removing wooden chunks and piles of mud as the Inuzuka kept an eerily silent attitude towards him.

He could see the boy's nose twitch, the overly sensitive smell sense of the dog-boy probably catching on to the rotting stench of the corpses around. Akamaru's ears moved too, as if he was some sort of look-out for trouble. There suddenly was a bark from the white dog, whose now brown muddied paws skittered across the ground. The dog began to dig in a corner of the area, barking at the same time.

Grabbing at his shovel, Naruto moved closer to the spot soon followed by Kiba. In moments, they broke through a chunk of solidified mud to what once was a house's roof, and further below it a pocket of air where a hand could be seen through the mud and a half-buried face.

The person inside was still alive, whining desperately as half of her face had been smashed against the ground and the weight of the mud-slide had pinned her down. The figure was clearly a woman, frail-looking and dirty. She wore what once probably had been cheap and easy to remove clothes —this had to have been a brothel before the mud slide.

The days as a whore were probably over for the woman, with a half-smashed face who'd ever consider her? Naruto blearily widened the hole before coming down, after sending Kiba to alert the rescuers there was another victim still alive.

"It's going to be all right," he said without much conviction. He wasn't a medic and he didn't know if the woman was going to make it or not. All that he could do was making sure the exit didn't close and that the prostitute remained alive until help arrived. The kunai came loose from one of his pockets, as he began to stab at the mud around the woman's face hoping to break it loose.

"Just…stay calm, all right?" he muttered. "It's going to be all right," he added then. He splintered out another chunk of mud as he kept on working. "Everything's going to be fine."

He didn't even know if he was talking to the woman or to himself, but still…

"So fragile and yet so strong willed," the Kyuubi hissed with a venomous undertone. "Her life is forfeit to hunger and thirst, her job no longer available and her life no longer that of before…it is but a matter of time before death claims her. Even now despair clouds her mind and her judgment. You know, Naruto? She wishes to be killed." There was silence as Naruto huffed and broke another crust of mud.

"She wishes for you to make a mistake while breaking the mud and slice her throat. She wishes for the pain to end…and yet her body clings to life. That is something I never understood with you humans. Always do you cling to life even as your brain wishes for something else, your bodies fight battles against sicknesses and diseases and wounds become nothing with time…" more mud was removed, now the woman could theoretically breathe easier.

"Many times I have seen men and women kill even when the shinigami was at the door of their existence…and always I have wondered why: when the time comes, one should not fight the inevitable."

"Naruto? Is everything all right down there?" his sensei's voice cut from above, forcing him to stop and turn his gaze upwards to where the light was coming from.

"Yes sensei, I'm trying to free her from the mud now. She's breathing but her right side is a mess."

"Don't try and move her then, just do what you can and then climb back up."

"Yes, sensei."

It was as easy as that really, nothing more. He managed to free her and then gently lay her on her back. He was about to turn and leave, when the left arm of the woman twitched as it tried to move and stop him. He smiled back at her, before whispering. "It's going to be all right."

"Be careful! There are Kiri shinobi around the village, and they're going to try and kill you!" the Kyuubi's voice cackled with glee, shrilly and feminine, as Naruto's face froze in disbelief.

Kiri shinobi?

Again?

He turned to the exit and then to the woman once more, before mouthing a 'thank you' and a wink. If the look of shock could be of any indication, he didn't dwell on it. He just left the hole calmly, letting the rescuers descend inside in his place.

"Naruto! You missed lunch," Sakura's right hand thrust a bowl in his direction with something warm in it —soup most likely. He would have preferred ramen, but then again…

He began to eat quietly as the thought on ramen turned him to think of the time spent with Teuchi, literally dropping his mood to below zero levels. He finished in less than a minute, the warm broth doing wonders for the cold he felt at the tip of his fingers.

The girl had mud in her now short hair, and seemed to have just finished a scuffle of sorts. Ino's own hair had pretty much received the same treatment. Both kunoichi simply glared at one another, refusing to talk.

"What happened?" he found himself asking.

"Ino being stupid," she retorted with a huff, taking the empty bowl back. "Have you seen Sai around?"

"No," he shook his head. "If I do, I'll tell you."

Sakura shrugged. "It's not that: Sasuke and he are supposed to be doing a check of the villagers, see who's still missing and who's dead. Send him to Sasuke if you find him."

"Where is Sasuke's sensei?" he asked then, looking around for the mop of silver hair. Sakura frowned slightly, but shrugged once more.

"I don't know. I've got to get Ino-bitch to clean now, all the more fun for me," she muttered.

"Want me to do it?" he replied. "I mean, if you'd like that."

"I'm torn…between looking for the emotionless wall and having to suffer convincing the pork-chops to work, which is the easiest one?" she smiled briefly at that, before nodding. "I'll take the emotionless wall then, thanks Naruto."

"Thanks, Naruto," the Kyuubi's mock-tone reached his ears as he began to walk towards the Yamanaka. "What next? Clean her muddy shoes? Lick her feet? Grovel? Really, you just watched and heard…" then the Kyuubi blinked, or at least to Naruto it seemed as if he had done that. "Oh, so that's _your_ thought? I don't know whether to be impressed or amused at such blatant stupidity."

The Kyuubi remained quiet, as Naruto stopped a few feet away from the blond girl who was somehow wasting more water from her backpack to clean her hair from the mud. Naruto's eyes caught the slight gleam of water bottles within the girl's bag, assuaging his doubts.

Well, if she had brought more water, she was free to do as she pleased with it…even if wasting it still left him with a sour aftertaste.

"Ahem," he coughed lightly, his eyes settling on the girl's now wet face. The Yamanaka recoiled slightly, before stopping and facing him full-ahead, with a frown.

"What?"

"We have cleaning duty," he remarked. "Can you show me where the stuff to be cleaned is?"

"We're going to dirty it again tonight," Ino scoffed. "It's that way," she pointed behind her, towards a set of tents where the wounded, the sick and the elderly stood.

"It's our duty," he replied. "You're coming?"

"I've got better things to do," Ino muttered. "My sensei said I should just help cook. He said nothing about cleaning."

"So you won't help?" he asked then, just to be sure.

"Duh, are you deaf? Brain damaged?"

"Just wanted to be sure," Naruto shrugged. "I'll have to point it out in the report," he began to walk, only to be stopped by Ino's hand on his arm.

He stilled and froze instants away from slicing the hand off with his blade. He took a deep breath, as his cerulean eyes resettled on the girl.

"What? You're lying. Your sensei's writing the report for you, isn't he?"

He shook his head. "No, he isn't. He did at first, with us only there for oral debriefing, but he wants our first C-rank mission to be done with the day-by-day report. So I will write of this, and that's all." He pulled his own arm free from the girl's hand, and then began to walk again.

Soon he heard the sound of Ino's feet behind him, the girl muttering curses with her arms crossed as they reached the tents. The look of disgust on the girl's face was visible, as if she had never seen so much misery around her. It soon turned chipper enough however when they reached the table, which had apparently been cleaned and the tools on it removed.

"See? Sensei probably cleaned it."

He frowned, moving closer and taking a careful look around. "If so…where is everything?"

Ino froze for a second. She hurriedly walked around like a headless chicken for a few more minutes, before starting to clench and unclench her hands nervously.

"This is…I'm sure the stuff is around here somewhere," she mumbled.

He twitched his right eyebrow for a second.

Really?

"I," he breathed slowly, "I would like to know what your sensei taught you, if you make such poor calls."

"Forehead-girl was leaving too!" Ino snapped back at him, angry and glaring. "She's at fault more than me! She tried to leave me behind because she wanted to find Sasuke-kun, and…"

"And not because someone had to keep an eye out on the things to prevent people from stealing them?" he retorted calmly.

"Excuse me," a voice cut in, forcing Naruto to avert his gaze from the Yamanaka to look at the new arrival. A raven haired girl in a kimono was looking at the two of them with a curious gaze, her face displaying worry and a bit of fear. She seemed to be holding a small basket filled with herbs, and the lower side of her clothes was muddied as if she had trudged all the way till them.

"I couldn't help but overhear," the girl mumbled. "I wanted to thank you for your help with these medicinal herbs, but…if you need cooking utensils, there's what remains of the brothel's kitchen in that direction…" she pointed from where she had come, just around the side of the broken mountain. "There should be some tools you can use."

"I should warn one of the senseis," Naruto replied. "We can't be leaving our posts without them. Aoba-sensei was at the dig site, you want to go?"

"Who, me?" Ino snorted, before shaking her head. "No thanks, I barely managed to get the mud out of my sandals."

"All right," Naruto sighed. "I'll go." Anything that would get him away from the girl was welcomed, after all.

He ran atop the mud by using chakra to make it a solid surface, and had barely done a few meters when he blinked and cursed loudly. The girl couldn't have her sandals covered in mud! She had been skipping over it with chakra!

He was now going, so he wasn't going to just turn around and make his point. He'd press on and then make sure to write a scathing report.

Aoba-sensei wasn't at the dig site.

Sakura wasn't there and neither was Sai. Sasuke himself hadn't appeared. Shikamaru and Chouji both seemed to have disappeared from existence.

The rescuers weren't there to begin with. There were only puddles of water all around him, a dreadful silence and the light salty breeze of the wind.

Somehow, that didn't make him any more…

There was a loud scream from the tents, and judging by the voice it had to be Ino's voice. He spun around, Tanto in hand. He lowered himself to charge forward…

And bladed chains passed above his head just from behind him.

"That was luck." The Kyuubi's three words forced Naruto's heartbeat to triple, as his eyes widened in shock. Missing-nins from Kiri, probably Genins or Chuunins that he felt were familiar to him, had tried to behead him and were now spinning around after detaching their united blade-chain.

"Meizu," one muttered.

"Gozu," the other remarked.

"We got ourselves a lucky one," Meizu continued. "Or unlucky, since he's going to have we kill him."

Two shinobi against one…shinobi team usually worked in groups of three or four, and…

Wasn't a common tactic separating the teams to take them out one at the time?

His blood froze, but not before his feet found the strength needed to jump backwards and avoid a volley of Senbon Needles.

"Those are probably poisoned," the Kyuubi remarked off-handedly.

The kimono-wearing girl of before was now a male, with a fit black meshes shirt and long baggy trousers that reached his ankles.

"I took care of the girl," the boy remarked. "We have to be quick before Zabuza-sama's distraction ends."

He took care of the girl?

Ino.

He gritted his teeth in frustration, eying the three shinobi in front of him. Where were the Jounins when you needed them?

He didn't have the time to think as he was forced backwards once more, as a wave of water sped at him from the two 'brothers'. The wave froze to ice in mid-crash, before splintering into thousands of icy needles that threw themselves forward as if pushed by some unyielding strength.

He brought his arms in front of his face, the ice needles piercing through his clothes and skin, passing through his arms and making him feel both cold and in pain from the blood drawn. He skidded to a halt a few meters back still, Tanto in hand as he fumbled for a few shurikens.

Naruto couldn't give his opponents his back —they'd kill him before he'd manage to spin. He had expected the three to press their attack past the icy wave, but instead nothing came his way. He tried to ease his breathing, maybe the distraction of 'Zabuza' had ended, and they had left?

"Slice him to bits!" the Kyuubi's exclamation came at the same time as he acted upon it.

He ran forward, throwing the shurikens behind as he twisted his body, landing with his right arm on the mud surface and _gliding_ on it. The shurikens impacted against the masked face of one of the two brothers, while the second detached the clawed hand and came forward with it, sprinting into a sort of boxing-style that seemed keen on getting him wounded.

He rolled, avoiding the blow as he tried to take a few steps backwards again, only for his feet to remain stuck on a surface of ice. A surface of ice that _wasn't_ there a moment before.

Battles rarely lasted more than a few minutes. He suspected barely forty seconds had passed, but in that time the second 'brother' had managed to close onto him from the side, while the first came once more from the front. Blocked as he was, he could barely stop one…but not the other.

The shurikens left the place to a kunai that he threw in the direction of the shinobi to his side, while he mentally prepared himself for the pain of being skewered. The clawed-shinobi was closer now, and as his gauntlet met his Tanto's blade, the two locked for a second as Naruto pushed chakra into the blade.

Naruto hadn't been thinking straight at the amount of chakra to pour, all that he had cared about was to just reinforce the blade.

The blue flames of chakra erupted from the blade itself, showering his surrounding in the life energy that was commonly used by shinobis and melting the very ice that held him still. The flames didn't actually burn as much as they simply _energized_ the area.

He could move, but the hit came all the same on his side, and the pain…

The pain was so intense he screamed as the enemy shinobi tore through his side and walked away with a good chunk of his guts.

Crimson blood dripped and sprayed out of his wound, as Naruto fell on one knee. The missing-nin in front of him kicked the raven haired boy on the face, sending him to tumble backwards and fall with his back in the mud. He choked at the pain, as even trying to roll away became a hurdle too strong for him.

These weren't bandits he could kill with ease. These were shinobi, Chuunin-rank or above, that knew how to fight in a team and support one another.

Alone, he had no chance.

"Who ever said anything about being alone?" the Kyuubi bemused. "This is just like you, to always think negatively."

At those words, pronounced with nothing more than a casual tone, he screamed in frustration. "_SHUT UP!_"

"Uh?" that stilled the enemy ninjas, as if he had been talking to them.

"Shut up!" he yelled again. "You can take your bloody amusement and shove it where the sun doesn't shine! Do you hear me!? If I'm going to die then you'd better not be the last thing I hear! Can't you just _shut up_!?"

"That's not going to save you, kid," one of the two missing Nins remarked.

"He's delirious by now, Meizu," the other one said pointing at his side wound. "Poison probably started kicking in by now. He's a goner no matter what. Let's go: either he dies by blood loss or by poison. We don't know how much longer the chief can hold back the Jounins."

Naruto's eyes widened as the two enemy shinobi simply turned around, soon joined by their third teammate who had been hidden somewhere within the puddles around them, and then…then they left.

They left him behind to die.

He gurgled as he lowered his head against the soft muddy ground, hissing in pain and gritting his teeth as he felt a strong surge of chakra pour through his entire body, slamming against his wound and burning it up as if he was being flailed and burned alive at the same time. He clenched his hands against the mud sending foul strings of curses to the world, before the wound closed up within seconds.

Sweat covered his face as he gagged and gasped for air, wobbling back to his feet within a minute.

"A pity," the Kyuubi remarked. "A true pity."

"You fucker," he muttered. "I'll…I'll have you…"

"You'll have me what, sealed?" Kurama snorted. "You hid me from your team, Naruto. You hid the knowledge of enemy shinobi from your teammates. The girl is dead _because_ you held back vital information."

"What?" Naruto's eyes widened as the implication sunk in.

"Oh, you weren't paying attention? I said…"

Naruto cut the Kyuubi off, his feet sliding and stumbling across the mud as he made his way back to the tents with the wounded. When he reached the area, he stilled.

Blood puddles and torn limbs, needles and kunais driven through necks and stomachs littered the area. The work couldn't have been done by a single man. It was impossible. It had to be. He felt bile rise to his throat as he once more walked through the same area that had been filled with the elderly and the sick, as well as the children and the wounded. He nearly retched at the sight of a pregnant woman with her stomach _smashed_ to a paste.

He felt worse than sick…and the Kyuubi hadn't said a single word about this. The nine-tails had remained quiet as enemy shinobi had literally torn apart defenseless people in the same time it had taken him to run back to the dig site and to fight off the missing-nins.

How long could it have been? Five minutes? Ten minutes? The battle hadn't lasted more than a minute, maybe two. Silently they had come and silently they had left.

That was the mark of a shinobi, wasn't it?

Just where were the Jounins in all of this!? Where were they? Had they decided to take a trip…

He closed his eyes as he clenched his fists to the point his knuckles turned white and his nails drew blood from his palms. The girl was dead.

Ino Yamanaka's throat had been sliced neatly and cleanly, and blood was splattered all over her dress. She lay there, her eyes open and glassy stilled in the shock of her death, as if she had barely managed to get out a scream before death had captured her.

He stood there, looking transfixed at the corpse in front of him, as a memory slowly crept into his brain.

"_The most terrifying moment in the shinobi world is not the first kill, Naruto. It's not even the first close brush with death. It's the moment one close to you dies, killed by enemy hands. It breaks the last fleeting innocence that 'none will die' of your friends. The moment a teammate, a fellow Genin, a Jounin-sensei dies…it's the moment you realize that death has no mercy…and that is what truly breaks a shinobi out of his old life and into his new one, as a ninja."_

He heard fast steps approaching behind him, not caring about making noise. The steps then froze behind him, as he could hear the pants of exhaustion coming from the person in question. He slowly turned around, to stare into the shocked face of Aoba-sensei, who had blood all over his body but had apparently managed to get away from whatever had been holding him up.

"Naruto?" he muttered. "What…"

"They killed her," he replied. His finger pointed at the corpse of Ino. "The enemy… missing Nins…the ones we met for Wave, sensei…they killed her."

Yamashiro Aoba just nodded in his direction, before slowly walking closer to him. "You ran?" he asked carefully.

"No," he chuckled. He mirthfully laughed. He gestured at the gash on his side, now clear and clean with unblemished pink skin. "The Kyuubi healed it all up. They left me for dead sensei. I'm alive because of luck. All the good the training did to me was making me run like a headless chicken." He laughed at that. "Like a damn headless chicken…" he muttered then.

"All right," Aoba admitted. "Holster your weapon and then come here." As he said that, Naruto just numbly obeyed. "The rest of the team is safe," he added. "It happened abruptly. A few civilian stoles the cooking utensils, and since nobody was around Asuma-san went to get them back. They were a distraction. The enemy shinobi had been baiting a few Kiri-Anbu along the border to follow him, and when Asuma saw them and they saw him…well, they decided to try and claim his bounty."

He had taken out a scroll then, one of those he carried on his chest all the time. He unrolled it, revealing a sealing array…the one designed to carry corpses.

"At the same time Sasuke and Ami were still missing, and Sakura asked Kiba for help tracking them down. I remained behind at the dig site, and I saw you going with Ino towards the camp so I trusted you with doing the right thing…in the meantime Pakkun, one of Kakashi's summonses, called me to help." Here Aoba grimaced, as he poured chakra into the array.

"He was facing Zabuza of the Hidden Mist, a master in silent killing and well…" the Jounin looked weary. "He couldn't pin him down long enough; what with his mist and…the fact he had to protect the Genins. They were just holding us back enough to slaughter the people around here."

He frowned. "Sai?"

"Kabuto needed a hand moving some of the wounded elsewhere: he got Sai, Shikamaru and Chouji to help. I figured since they were with a mostly Chuunin group, they'd be fine."

He remained silent as Ino's body disappeared with a puff of smoke. A simple puff, and there no longer was the corpse of the blond haired girl who had fought against Sakura for Sasuke's love. That was supposed to make him feel sad, right?

"I'll have to give the news to the others, Kakashi collapsed and Asuma went to get back the medics." Aoba frowned. "Thankfully there weren't any casualties among the medic chuunins."

There was a casualty all the same however. A casualty that he had caused by remaining quiet. A casualty that the Kyuubi could have avoided had the fox decided to speak up.

A casualty that wouldn't have been there in the first place, if the fox had been free to curb the malice from the world.

Naruto didn't know what to do now. On one side…maybe he felt responsible for Ino's death. On the other…he had barely survived with his own life.

The Kyuubi had saved him, as if enjoying his prolonged existence. At the same time he hadn't helped with Ino, he hadn't warned him…but hadn't he already done that?

Hadn't the Kyuubi whispered to him of the enemy shinobi, of Kabuto as a spy? And what had he done but ignore it, to prevent people from trying to 'analyze' if the seal had weakened? Hadn't he simply acted selfishly, and hadn't Ino paid the price for it?

"Naruto," Aoba suddenly said. "You shouldn't beat yourself up over this. You couldn't have saved Ino, you did well just surviving…it was more than enough."

He nodded, not trusting his voice.

The enemy had just…attacked, and everything had been over in an instant.

The feeling that life could end in such a short moment…

Why did it leave him so empty, just like that time when Teuchi had exhaled his last breath?

**Author's notes**

**Author's notes will be available at shadenight123 – place dot- blogspot —dot— it **


	14. Dealing with Life

Introverted

Chapter Fourteen

The mission was deemed a failure. Quiet silence was all that remained throughout the day, and the ensuing night, as the Genins reunited. Naruto remained quiet in a corner, his eyes transfixed on Aoba's Jounin vest, and more precisely on the spot where Ino's remains stood tightly kept in the scroll.

They left with the rising of the sun, and for once Naruto was glad nobody was even trying to talk to him. He didn't know if the other members of Ino's team blamed him or not, but he knew he didn't want to know. Ignorance was bliss, as the Kyuubi had so aptly made him discover.

"She will be missed, people will scream. Humans always scream." The fox demon's voice echoed through his head as he mechanically took a step after the other, silently standing next to Sakura and Sai. "They cry a lot too, even if I don't understand that. Why cry when nature just does what it is meant to do? Do you cry when a wolf eats a rabbit? Do you cry when a tree is felled by an axe? So why cry when a human is killed by another? Humans cry too much."

Naruto's eyes remained on the ground as he walked.

"Humans always think themselves special," the Kyuubi snorted. "I've got opposable thumbs! I've got a brain! I've got feelings! Stupid animals don't, trees don't, so I can cry and scream and think that my life is worth something more than be a mere passing instant of life! You pathetic egocentric creatures sicken me to the core."

He clenched his right hand, his gaze ahead now, to make sure he wasn't being left behind.

"They won't leave you here, don't worry," the Kyuubi muttered. "You're too precious for them. You're their Jinchuuriki! You could have been the one to kill the girl, heck, you could have _raped_ her dead corpse and _they wouldn't have even flinched_. That is the law of nature and strength, the law of might and power. The powerful do, the weak obey. You can claim it false, but where the weak is strong there is anarchy and where the strong is weak there is chaos. The laws are strong only as much as those who make them and force them. The strong can burn and destroy, it can murder and kill. The strong can pillage, loot, rape, tear lives and laugh while the weak cries and screams in anguish, unable to cope and defend all that he holds dear."

He gritted his teeth, his hands clasping at his neckline.

"And I am the malice of the sinner and the sinned, the hatred of the murderer and the murdered. So I wonder why you think my whispers are false when I don't need them to be, for I have but to show you the truth so that you may crumble to dust, and then be carried away by the wind. Life isn't hell or shit or darkness, life is far worse. It is the unyielding revelation that nothing is good in the world truly, and that even the kind-hearted do this for a twisted and sick sense that the after-life is there for them to repent their sins. There is no Kami in heaven or Devil in hell. There is humanity's stupid belief of being something more when they are nothing else but beasts that trudge and walk upon the mud of this planet with sickening pride and prejudice."

He gagged for air, shaking his head.

"Deny all you wish, refuse truth all you want, but truth cannot and will not be denied. Believe in what sort of pitiful god you think exists, believe in whatever makes you sleep at night but know this: you already know there is nothing beyond life itself, but you refuse to listen. You refuse because then, your entire existence would be a lie. You refuse to accept nothingness because you think of it as an inescapable burden. Why have I suffered so much, if the end is nothing? Why have I forced myself to live through life, when no heaven or hell was there to wait for me? Why have I followed laws when nothing waited for me on the other side? Why have I not killed my enemies, quenched my thirst in their blood, if there was no punishment beyond death?"

He breathed slowly, letting the words of the beast wash over him as if they were nothing more than passing droplets of rain. He could ignore the Kyuubi, hadn't his mother and his grandmother done the same? Then again, if he did, he wouldn't be any better than them.

But his mother couldn't be a bad person now, could she? The Kyuubi had yet to lie. Sure, he would speak the truth only of things that made him grief, but he had yet to lie. The beast just had too much to lose if it did.

"Naruto?" the worried voice of Sakura, still grief-stricken, woke him up from his thoughts. "Are you all right?"

He smiled briefly at the pink-haired girl, before nodding quietly.

"Death is the only real thing in the world, boy," the Kyuubi whispered. "Like the Bijuus are forces of nature, not demons or gods of old, so too is Death nothing more than Nature itself claiming its toll. Romanticize it to be a grim reaper with a scythe, but in the end Death is nothing more than Nature reclaiming the rotten corpses of beasts who have done their time. Life is but a fleeting illusion, shrouded in malice and hatred and needs and wants of egoistic beings. Is she consoling you because she's sad, or because she believes that to be the right thing to do? Is she aiming to please the sensei, or to help you?"

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "I should have…"

Sakura cringed and shook her head. "Naruto…you did what you could. Had it been me or Sai…we wouldn't have survived."

"It feels wrong," Naruto said then, shaking his head. "She had friends, family, love and happiness…she had _everything_ and…it was taken away, like that, for no reason. And I remained behind. Why?"

"Survivor's guilt is unneeded in you, dickless," Sai quipped in the next instant. "You were trained better. You were stronger. You survived. It wasn't your fault."

"I shouldn't have left her there alone," he retorted. "I should have known something was strange."

"And what then? You would have died sooner." Sai's reply was monotone, without even a glimpse of heat as if he was just stating the obvious. "This death happened. You can do nothing to change this fact. You can only live on."

"But—"

"Naruto," Sakura muttered then. "It's all right," she said putting her left hand on his shoulder. "You couldn't do anything to help. It wasn't your fault."

"You couldn't do anything," the Kyuubi sing-sung. "You really couldn't! After all you had no idea what was going to happen, did you? Nobody told you of the missing-nins, nobody told you of who was a spy and who wasn't, and most importantly…nobody tried to warn you! Truly, _you couldn't do anything at all_!"

"Yes it was!" he snapped back. "It was my fault, all my fault."

"Shut it," Shikamaru's voice cut in from in front of them. His dark eyes seemed to bore into his own cerulean ones as the Nara spoke then. "Ino was a friend of ours since we were kids…but this wasn't your fault. She was bossy, always expecting to be right and petulant, but this wasn't your fault: she didn't train. Hell, we didn't train. I watched you fight the bandits, and I'm sure that clan-child or not, you'd win against any of us. So if you had no hope of surviving, what makes you think Ino had? You were just lucky…" he sniffed a moment, turning his blinking gaze back forward. "And Ino wasn't. That's all there is."

Chouji just kept on eating, albeit his frown was slightly more pronounced as it returned to stare forward.

"He wouldn't be able to defeat me," Sasuke said calmly. "I would have saved the civilians and the girl."

"Shut it Uchiha," Kiba snarled. "I swear if you say another word I'm going to shove my fist where the sun doesn't shine!"

"Sasuke-kun protected me from Zabuza! Naruto-baka would never have been able to do that!" Ami screeched.

"Silence you lot!" Kakashi snapped back curtly, for once showing a heat that he wasn't commonly renowned for. "One of your fellow Konoha shinobi died recently. Have some respect!"

The rest of the trip was spent in an uncomfortable silence with Aoba, Kakashi or Asuma not saying a single word. Even the medic Chuunins seemed quiet, and the Kyuubi silently stowed away. Except for Chouji's insisting munching, only their footsteps echoed throughout the forest.

The gates of Konoha were open as they returned beneath a wonderfully clear sky and a shining sun. The populace was milling about its usual business, as the three Genins of Team Thirteen delivered their written reports to their sensei, before turning to leave.

"Naruto, wait!" Sakura exclaimed suddenly, grabbing the boy's jacket by the back. "Let's go eat somewhere together! You too Sai!"

"I have an errand to run, Cherry," Sai quipped in. "Enjoy your date with Dickless."

The raven haired boy disappeared through the nearby alleyway, leaving the two stumped teammates behind.

"This isn't a date," Sakura snapped back at Naruto. He merely shrugged at that.

"Where should we go?" he asked then.

"We could get some ramen —there's this place that recently opened up," she answered back quickly, gesturing towards the opposite direction as the one Sai had taken. He hesitantly nodded, and began to walk next to the girl.

"Wait!" Sasuke's voice cut the air as they turned wary glances at the Uchiha. "We're in Konoha now. Fight me."

"We just came back," Sakura muttered. "Can't you wait until tomorrow?"

"I'm not talking to you now. Mission's over: Naruto can decide by himself," Sasuke's retort was filled with something akin to distaste for the pink-haired kunoichi, who looked offended at those words.

Naruto just frowned. The dark haired boy shook his head then. "No."

"Chicken!"

"Yes," he admitted calmly. "I am. We can go, Sakura."

"You're just a coward! You left the girl and ran, isn't it? That's how you survived! By running away!" Sasuke's words echoed as the two of them hurriedly made their way away from the last of the Uchiha.

The streets just seemed to swap one with the other with frightening speed, as they entered the areas of Konoha that generally weren't available to the civilians. The streets emptied drastically, and the number of flak jackets and forehead protectors increased with every step they took.

In a corner of one of the streets, a dingy looking shop stood with a painted insignia that recited in a scaly green and mottled brown the word '_Hebi'_.

"Snake?" he asked then. "Who'd name a restaurant snake?"

"It's the place I talked you about," Sakura spoke then. "My parents bake the breads for their shop. They also serve ramen."

"You sure?" as they entered, Naruto couldn't help but be attracted by a set of glass counters holding within them various assorted sweets and salty treats. "It looks more like a coffee shop."

The walls were a soft cerulean blue, the chairs and tables of mahogany seemed to shine as the silk tablecloths seemed to sort of give the vibe of 'high class establishment'. The pavement was made of marble, thick black veins running along its tiles as was the norm for certain types of the rock.

"It is," a voice remarked from the side of the entrance. There stood a boy with pale white skin and red eyes, his hair a light blond that nearly seemed to be white. He was wearing a loose blue shirt and a pair of green trousers. "And it's also much more. Whatever the heart desires, we strive to serve," the boy smirked at that. "Table for two?"

Naruto fidgeted uncomfortably. This place reeked of high costs, and…

"Shinobi have discounts," the boy added then. "And all prices are affordable to begin with. We also take checks and as long as you leave us your shinobi id, we can directly take the money from your account." He seemed to still for a second, turning thoughtful. "We also guarantee confidentiality, especially with couples."

"We're not a couple!" Sakura screeched. "We're just…back from a mission."

"Oh," the boy nodded. "Want a quiet corner anyway?" he pointed to one of the room's corners, away from the entrance and in the lampshade. "There's also no ban on shinobi drinking, so if you want a stiff drink…"

"No thanks," Sakura blurted out as she followed the man towards the table. Naruto followed hesitantly. He hadn't had the reflex to use the Henge, but then again the shop had just recently opened, and his hair was black now. There was no way they'd recognize him, right?

He should have gone to talk with Danzo, but as it was he needed time to get his thoughts back. This seemed like a pretty normal place, with pretty normal stuff and pretty normal…pretty normal everything. It didn't even look as if he had just seen Ino's corpse days before. If somebody looked at him, they wouldn't see the boy who had nearly died against enemy shinobi, would they?

He had fresh clothes, he was slightly sweaty and probably smelled a bit, but nobody seemed to care. One of the shinobi sitting further away from the entrance was actually holding his right swollen cheek with a bleeding lip. He supposed that 'downtime' for shinobi was whenever they could, never mind showers or personal health.

"Ah! If it isn't Haruno-san," an older voice piped in from their side, as a portly looking man with a pair of mustaches walked over. "I just talked with your parents this morning: they always strive to provide me the best in baked goods you know? They were slightly heart-broken with worry at you not being back yet…but I suppose I can hardly fault you, such a nice looking man," he chuckled while winking at Naruto, who was actually surprised at such warmth in the man's voice.

Sakura sputtered back a hasty 'it's not what it looks like' but the portly man just laughed again.

"Well, well! Don't you worry about it! I won't be telling your parents you've been here with a boy," he winked, this time towards Sakura. "So, ready to order?"

"Kuro-san," Sakura mumbled. "It's really not what it looks like."

"Of course," Kuro remarked with a knowing nod. "Of course."

"Ramen?" Naruto hesitantly asked.

"Which type?" Kuro queried back.

"Ah, pork," Naruto sheepishly admitted.

"I'll have a salad," Sakura said then, before suddenly biting her lower lip and adding. "And anko dumplings."

"Anmitsu as dessert as always?" Kuro added then with a knowing look.

"Y—yeah," Sakura fidgeted as she admitted that.

"Good!" he then chuckled once more good-naturedly, before adding. "What about drinks then? Water, soft drinks, energy drinks, coffee…"

"You'd let someone drink coffee with ramen?" Naruto couldn't help but blurt out that question, as the man simply laughed once more before replying.

"Of course! Whatever the client desires, whatever the heart wishes for, we are here to try and give it through food. If someone wishes to drink coffee while eating ramen, it's their choice, not ours to make."

"I'll have water," Naruto hastily said.

"Me too," Sakura quipped in.

"Then have a pleasant wait," Kuro left a moment later, and as an embarrassing silence descended, only the soft sounds of people talking around them was left.

"Normality is hiding all that is evil and undefeatable behind a carpet of wistful ignorance," the Kyuubi spoke again, his voice soft and amused. "Killers and victims, all eat, drink and live their lives with the same verve and cadence as innocents, don't you know? To lie and put up a mask of mock normality is what humans are all about around others. The woman who laughs to the tasteless joke of the boyfriend, the man who smiles and nods to the girl he likes even if she's as plain as a plank board…the desire to rip the skull out of the person we hate which is suppressed behind half-assed smiles…"

"Naruto? Are you all right?"

He widened his eyes and shook his head quickly, trying to clear his thoughts. "Y-Yeah, sorry Sakura, it's just…Ino died and we're…well…we're here."

Sakura herself bit her lower lip a moment, before crossing her arms over her chest.

"Ino was my first friend," she whispered with a small croak. "I still can't imagine she's really dead. I think she's going to pop out from around the corner any moment now, yelling how she just wanted to play an act for Sasuke-kun or how she's going to wipe the ground out of me for being a big forehead or something like that."

The pink-haired girl wistfully smiled. "We used to do a lot of things together," her breath hitched, her shoulders began to tremble. "She was the first one to tell me my forehead wasn't ugly. I didn't believe her but I went along. She was everything I wanted to be…sure of herself, prideful, always with a smile and headstrong…" bitterly, she added. "And then she had to ruin our friendship and fall in love with Sasuke-kun."

Sakura's eyes looked down to the surface of the table, before whispering out. "I know you didn't run away, Naruto. You're not like that," she shook her head. "You'd have saved her if you had stood a chance. Yet I'm here thinking what would have happened…hadn't I gone and looked for Sai," her voice grew fearful. "What if I hadn't accepted? What if I had simply gone with Ino to wash the dishes? Would I have survived against them? And I can't answer that with a yes, Naruto. I can't because I know I wouldn't have lasted. The wound on your side…that would have killed anyone. Had I been there, had I not accepted, I would have been dead together with Ino." She shuddered.

"I don't want to admit it. A shinobi must never show their tears. A shinobi must never show their fears. A shinobi must rule in their emotions. A shinobi must not show any weakness. A shinobi must not fear death, but accept it…" she grimly stated each sentence with mechanic precision, before adding. "I'm not fit to be a shinobi. I became one to follow Ino and Sasuke-kun, me the civilian with pink-hair. Really, where the hell do you see pink as a good enough color to hide? And I never trained seriously, my stamina is pitiful still and there's really nothing I can seem to do to become stronger. I'm weak, ignorant and most of the time at the academy I just screeched like some sort of harpy." Her eyes shone with tears now, as she looked back up at Naruto.

"I know I'm going to be the next to die, Naruto, and I'm scared."

He clenched his own fists, his eyes narrowing on the trembling girl in front of him before he whispered back.

"No, you won't."

"Chains and shackles made of bonds shall twist your path to a new one," the Kyuubi whispered. "Aren't you planning on defecting? Where does Sakura fit in this? Do you think they'll let you and her go? Do you think you'll even manage to leave? Do not make promises you cannot keep, Naruto…they will only end in tragedy and tears."

"I won't permit it," he hissed out once more.

"Na-Naruto?"

"You're not going to die on the next mission, Sakura. You're not going to die on the following one too or the one after that again. You'll become strong with time and training, and Sai and I will protect you until you'll be able to protect us in turn. We'll speak to Aoba-sensei and ask for more training. We'll scurry the library for techniques available to us Genins, we'll learn about traps and what-not. We'll do everything we can to survive. I promise you this…it won't happen again."

Sakura just looked at him for a moment more, before a small smile stood etched on her face then. She cocked her head to the side as her eyes closed, while a smile blossomed on her lips. She stopped trembling, as her hands came down on her sides at the same time as she spoke.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun."

And then lunch passed by in a comfortable, for once, silence.

It was late at night, when in the Sarutobi compound four figures stood still in the darkness. All of the shinobi wore masks, but the stench of nicotine from one, the tuft of silver hair from another and the prim and mechanical pose of the third gave little doubt on the real identity of the men. The fourth one was dressed in the white robes of the Hokage, and the mask he wore was made of simple porcelain, colored a ghastly white.

"You knew this would happen," the gruff voice of Asuma was accusing, rather than neutral. "You knew Yagura would strike against the civilians. The attack was too organized, the missing-nin too prepared."

"It could have been any of us, Asuma," Kakashi spoke next gravely. "It could have been Ami, or Sakura. It should have been Sakura. We drew the lot. She swapped with Naruto, and we had no choice."

"They nearly killed the Jinchuuriki too," he retorted. "For all purposes, they were ready to kill him."

"It should have been a civilian's death," Sarutobi spoke calmly. "To hush it down quickly and quietly, try and pry out more from Kiri. Inoichi has unfortunately yet to come around, but when he does I hope he will not take out his anger against Naruto."

"It never was about helping the people, was it?" Aoba asked then carefully. "It was about sending probes to Kiri territory. See if there were any refugees with bloodlines among the border that might have slipped in with the hurricanes."

"Bloodlines will always be accepted into Konoha," Hiruzen remarked. "Beneath the leaves, all are equal."

"But some are more equal than others, isn't that right father?" Asuma bitterly retorted. "You told me to pass the team, that they would not be trained by me but by their clans. You told me everything would take care of itself and that 'tradition' was all the clans had to see. This 'tradition' destroyed my team and killed one of my Genins!"

"Fault the clans, not me," Hiruzen answered back with ease. "They should have trained their children more, like I did with you."

"And I ran away for years after that," Asuma snapped back.

"Maybe, but you were strong enough to enter the Daimyo's court, weren't you? And you are here, still alive and bickering against my ways. That is something not many other clan leaders can attest."

"Ino was an only child?" Aoba asked carefully.

"It is sad, isn't it? The idea of 'one and a spare' isn't something many clans do anymore. The Uchiha did, with Itachi and Sasuke, but I do not know about the others. The 'Spare' is usually kept hidden, to appear out at a moment's notice in case he or she is needed. Normally the spare is civilian, rather than Shinobi."

Kakashi drew out a long breath, before muttering.

"I think Naruto and Yakushi have a previous history of sorts," the silver haired Jounin was soon startled by the amount of concern that the Hokage's eyes showed him.

"Explain."

"He recoiled from him when the Chuunin came close to heal him."

"Any reason? Aoba?"

"He looked terrified, but there was nothing of the sort. I too checked, all the medical records were fine and Yakushi wasn't even his attending physician. They never met before," Aoba's face turned thoughtful. "It might be a similarity with someone else though. The same color of hair is common enough, and Mizuki's hair is pale white too, right?"

"More of a cerulean light," Asuma scoffed.

"Didn't know you had a discerning ability for colors," Kakashi quipped.

"Kurenai _insists_ there is a difference between crimson red and petunia red..."

"As fascinating as this is," Hiruzen retorted. "We have other things to concern us with. I plan on Team Thirteen taking the silent graduation, anyone against it?"

There was silence, as everyone thought it over.

"If I may," Aoba spoke after a while. "Why not have them go through the first part of the examination, and then tell them to give up before the main event? It would display the required mindset of following the leader, even against personal gain."

"Even better, speak to each of them privately before the start of the second," Kakashi's eyes suddenly lit up. "Tell each of them that the third is optional like the second, and have them go through the entire second test without delivering the information to one another. Shinobi need secrecy after all."

"And what if instead they share the information? Telling one 'not to tell the others' is moot if all speak to one another," Asuma sighed. "I'd tell them all and let it be easy. The kids earned it."

"Nothing is earned without sweat," Hiruzen snapped. "We'll go with Kakashi's suggestion. Furthermore, the punishment for revealing the information to the others will be made to be the equivalent of an S-rank secret. They need to surrender in order to let the Clan children or the foreign teams pass. They will also have a secondary objective of taking out foreign shinobi and teams not of our liking. That would be enough."

"Sai and Naruto? Maybe, but Sakura's…" Aoba's words were cut short by the Hokage.

"Then _train her more_. Concentrate on her _exclusively_. If she's a weak link, then batter her up with steel until she becomes something strong. Sai and Naruto are both receiving private training on the side with yours. Give something more to the girl, Aoba."

"She's got excellent control; I was planning on Medic-nin and Genjut—"

"_Not enough_," Hiruzen snapped. "That can begin when she's a _Chuunin_, till then what else does she have? She was first in theory wasn't she? Stress her and see her point of breakage. Bring her to the Torture and Interrogation department; get her to learn the interrogation methods. She's a civilian, but that doesn't mean she can't be molded into a kunoichi."

"T&I clearance will be difficult to acquire," Aoba's words died in his mouth as the Sandaime's mouth twitched into the beginning of a smile.

"I said to _bring her there_ and _get her_ to learn. Osmosis training, Aoba."

"Fight with the monkeys to become a monkey?" Asuma's question seemed directed at the Sandaime, who merely chuckled before nodding. "Why though?"

"In our world, information is power. Truthful information is priceless and false information is condemning. Learning how to get the truth out of an enemy is possibly the hardest thing, and with Yamanaka Ino's death…"

"You plan on placing her on a Clan-only spot in the future," Kakashi's lone eye narrowed dangerously. "This never was about killing a civilian to make the point to the other generations. This was about killing a clan children, from the very beginning it—"

"Silence, Hatake," the Sandaime's voice was positively cruel in that instant. "So what if a position entitled to a Yamanaka clan member is now going to be left to ballot? So what if a civilian might have a better shot at it? It is just a _random event_ and it holds no importance."

"It could have happened to any other clan children on the mission, the chances were far higher for one of them then for a civilian. The information was purposefully leaked to the Kiri Anbus, they were _expecting_ me…father," Asuma's voice was croaked now. "They were expecting bloodlines."

"Maybe so," Hiruzen admitted. "But I did not leak anything. I knew of someone who would do so in my place, in order to make certain lessons stick."

"And you let him?" there was disbelief in Asuma's voice, his eyes slightly bulged out. "The Yamanaka clan has been an ally of the Sarutobi for decades, father. Why?"

"You cannot have power and multiple heads, Asuma," Hiruzen snapped back. "You can have secrets against the enemy, you can have secrets among your friends, but you cannot have secrets among your comrades. There is no such thing as a council of clan heads, but that doesn't mean something similar cannot or will not exist given enough time."

"Is that all? Is that really the only reason?"

"You speak as if I planned this, Asuma," the Sandaime spoke back. "You know what the true skill of a politician is? It is to find the way to profit in any situation, no matter where or when the opportunity presents itself. Had the attack been successful against Sakura Haruno, I would have spoken with Naruto about the true culprit. Had it been successful on another civilian, I would have stressed the need for the academy to increase their physical training, never mind the 'risks' for civilian ninjas to outperform clan children. Had it taken another clan child? It would have been the same as now. Sasuke was given to Kakashi for the sole purpose of keeping him protected, he wouldn't have died."

"This is why I went to the Daimyo's court, father," Asuma snapped back. "Everything with you is either a way to earn something or a mean to an end!"

"You can't truly be that naïve still, Asuma!" the Sandaime retorted hotly. "Haven't you come back because you had grown disillusioned with the politics of the capital? Half of the guardians rebelled against the Daimyo for a reason, didn't they?"

Asuma remained quiet afterwards. Calmly, the Sandaime turned his gaze to the other two.

"Aoba, you have your orders. Kakashi, find anything on Yakushi that we can use to get him out of Konoha, similar or not, Naruto is the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, and if he snaps…I need not tell you what will happen then, do I?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama." A flurry of leaves later and only Asuma remained in the room with his father.

"Why must you always make things this difficult, son?"

"Why are you making this sound easy!?" Asuma's right fist slammed against the nearby wall. "You've changed since mother's death."

"No," Hiruzen shook his head wistfully. "Biwako was many things, but not the reason. I never changed, Asuma. You just got better at seeing through the hidden beneath of the underneath."

"Why trust Aoba?" Asuma asked then cautiously. "I understand Kakashi, but Aoba?"

"He is a shinobi from a civilian family," Hiruzen began carefully. "He, more than anyone else, can relate to what is happening. Konoha was birthed from the union of clans, but to dismiss the civilians only because they do not share the blood? Many of the Inuzuka techniques can be taught to outsiders, the Yamanaka's special ability is but a skill learned in youth. The Doujutsus might be impossible to subconsciously use, but the Tenketsu points in a body rarely move, and anyone can learn to mold chakra in their fingertips or have keen enough eyes to see an enemy Chuunin go through the hand signs for a technique. We make our bloodlines resemble myths of might and power, but the moment we start believing that ourselves…that is the moment we lose."

"We don't have a bloodline."

"Exactly. The problem with classes of citizens is exactly that: what makes you think that tomorrow the requirement to be from a 'shinobi' clan will simply be the surname? What if only bloodlines were to be required? What if only special skills? Asuma, we of the Sarutobi clan summon monkeys, but the true strength lies not in them…but in our ability to _adapt_. Humans are not inherently stronger than beasts, but we learned to circumvent that with tools, didn't we? The Sage of the Six Paths circumvented war with the use of Chakra, and defeated the demon, the Juubi, with said power. Do not forget that _to adapt is to survive_…in life and on the battlefield."

"So…who will I get as a replacement?" Asuma asked slowly.

"A certain Mareboshi," Hiruzen smirked.

"Kosuke? Kosuke Mareboshi?" Asuma whispered, wincing and swallowing a lump of nervousness in his throat.

"Yes, the eternal Genin himself," Hiruzen acquiesced. "It will be for the best. He'll help both Shikamaru and Chouji to cope with their loss, and even if he decides to avoid graduation…he'll be an asset during the previous tasks."

Asuma clenched his right fist. He knew there was something else about this settlement. He knew there had to be a reason for this. Was it a test of his teaching skills? Was this some sort of sadistic way of making him a clown of the entire Konoha? The son of the Hokage teaching the strongest Genin, because he clearly needs Genin who can fend off for themselves and do not risk dying on his watch?

He turned to leave, only for the final words of the Sandaime to strike home.

"Don't slack off now, Asuma. Dark times are coming…the Darkness is moving, and when it does come…I hope Kami will still be able to put up a good fight."

To those words, he had nothing to answer back.

And so he left.

In silence.

**Author's notes**

**Shadenight123 – dot- blogspot – dot- it.**


	15. The Tortures of Life

Introverted

Chapter Fifteen

"Life is fleeting."

Three words were all Danzo said, as Naruto finished recounting his tale to the old shinobi. "You cannot expect it to last."

He flinched. He awkwardly nodded. He stared once more.

"Why live, then?" he whispered back with a croaked voice.

"Because we have a purpose," Danzo admitted with a small nod. "To have a family, to have a good book to read, to have friends…small things, little things, and we are shinobi because we wish to protect others who have our dreams, who have bonds. We wish to protect Konoha because it is in part our duty and in part our purpose."

He clenched his right fist. "But they're ignorant of our sacrifice." Danzo's words slapped at Naruto, who stared wide-eyed at the shinobi.

"They believe Shinobi are just over-glorified tools of war. They believe life is made of peace, and that the only way out of a situation is through talk. Do you know what happens, when you extend the laurel of peace? Think, what would an enemy do when you replace the kunai in your hand for a branch of olive?"

"They'd attack," Naruto replied, thinking of the worse-case scenario he could muster. "It would be a way to retaliate before the end."

"Exactly," Danzo acquiesced. "The Nidaime Hokage was attacked and grievously wounded after Kumogakure's peace talks. Again, the following talks nearly managed in kidnapping the Hyuga Heiress. Again and again Konoha offered peace and received back thin veiled insults and menaces. Do you know…that Konoha is dying?"

"Uh?"

"The age of entrance in the Academy was Four. Instead of pampering shinobi however, results were asked immediately. By the age of twelve, a shinobi was a Chuunin already bloodied or a corpse," Danzo said. "Yet they were ready for the biggest fights. You could ask any child your age to kill, and they would _hesitate_ before doing so."

"Isn't that right though?" Naruto asked.

"It isn't," Danzo shook his head slowly. "Once, Jounin-sensei brought their students on C-ranks to deal with bandits, and that day the Genins returned with blood on their hands and truth etched in their hearts: shinobi do not need to always kill, but they must _never_ hesitate when the order is given."

"I already killed," he whispered. "Does that make me ready?"

"I can say with little doubt that you are a Shinobi, Naruto. Maybe not the strongest, maybe not the fastest or the most cunning, but you are a Genin. You are at the very least worthy of the _rank_."

Naruto smiled. It was awkward at first, but then it bloomed as he realized that Danzo was actually praising him, and without half-minced words or whatever else he usually said. He was actually being considered Shinobi material. He was actually _good_ at what he did.

It felt nice.

"I want to train more," Naruto said then. "I want to become stronger and stronger," he added with a hopeful tone. "So that I can protect the people precious to me."

Danzo coughed slightly, before turning his single eye on him.

"People eventually die," he remarked. "You should value ideals more than individuals. The human betrays. The human lies. The human…generally cannot be trusted. Ideals instead can. A strong Konoha, a strong village that can birth strong and prepared shinobis…that is my dream. That is what I strive for. You might create a bond with a few people, Naruto, but when those bonds will break –inevitably, they always do- you will be wounded far worse than anything else the enemy could have done. Civilians create bonds. Shinobi are tasked with breaking them most of the time. Trust in the bigger picture however, and deaths will only be…temporary rollbacks."

Naruto frowned.

"You will understand eventually," Danzo admitted. "For the moment, let us return to training, all right?"

He nodded quickly. Danzo's walking stick lifted from the ground as he pointed it against him. The old shinobi flexed his muscles slightly, the chakra flowing through his body to his feet. The next instant speed was all that Naruto could think of as the tip slammed into his stomach, making bile rise to his throat.

"Perforated stomach. Death by blood loss."

He rolled to the side, avoiding the second deft strike that had come far slowly than normal. He skittered backwards, just in time to dodge a horizontal swipe that would have probably cut his face in half, had it been a sword in Danzo's hand.

"Attrition can be off-set by chakra," Danzo remarked. "One can easily gain attrition against smooth or wet surfaces, just as it can be lost. No attrition when gliding more speed, attrition when on a wet surface means the same. Carefully controlled displacement of attrition means moving without making noise."

Danzo's speed increased just as an unnatural silence filled the air around them. Naruto's eyes widened slightly as the tip of the old shinobi's walking cane settled inches away from his right eye. "Dead."

The cane was brought back down on the ground as the wind started once more to blow around them.

"Silence is both the shroud of the shinobi and its unnerving curse," Danzo spoke. "To fight in silence, without words…that increases tension. To talk, to speak or to interact _breaks_ the tension. To act upon the tension, to let the other snap first, that is what we will be working on together with attrition managing."

Naruto just nodded. Danzo-sensei always taught more than one thing at the same time. He wondered, as he began to silently concentrate on the feeling of his chakra, what the others were doing.

Sakura Haruno was agonizing on the ground.

Her sensei had apparently decided she was to become the punching sack of the team. Sai had been merciful, but their sensei hadn't. The spar with Sai had been a cakewalk —even if she had lost it— compared to what her sensei had done.

She could feel her joints flare in pain even as she just barely _thought_ about moving. Her right ankle had been dislocated, and even putting a small amount of weight on it made her cry out in pain. Her vision was slightly obscured, but she could make out her sensei talking to Sai about something. She couldn't hear pretty well —her head had been banged up against a tree bark, and that somehow made her believe she was having a concussion ongoing.

"Hospital…"

She inwardly sighed. They were going to bring her to the hospital. That was good. She really just needed a nice nap after all of this.

"Useless," she flinched. She had heard the word but she couldn't place who had said that. Had it been Sai or their sensei? She tried to stand up, at least enough to find out. She was grabbed by a pair of strong hands a second later, and lifted up.

She saw dark raven hair and a look of apathy on Sai's face, as the boy carried her towards the hospital.

"Sai?" she mumbled, her consciousness fading. There was no reply, but she pressed on. "I'll…I'll do better."

Her sight finally clouded itself completely, as she embraced darkness. She believed Sai had actually replied, but she hadn't heard unfortunately. Maybe she'd ask him the next time?

Definitively. She wasn't going to stop. So what if she ended up battered and bruised in the hospital? Sensei had just stepped up with the training to make sure Ino's death wouldn't be repeated with another one of his students.

It had to be that. There just wasn't a reason for Aoba-Sensei to act cruelly with her during training otherwise.

Really.

It had to be.

At the same time, Team Seven was being wildly flung around through the entire training ground. Viciousness didn't even begin to describe what their sensei was doing, as Ami had literally broken and begun to cry like a fountain a moment later. Kiba was feeling soreness everywhere, but he could still stand. Sasuke on the other hand…

He had been completely crushed. The Uchiha had its limbs twisted and broken; his eyes snapped shut because of sand and his breathing irregular. He didn't doubt for a second who was the strongest, and his feeling of weakness was second only to the burning fire of hate he was starting to feel for his sensei.

Yet it didn't matter, because he couldn't move and the Inuzuka was all that stood between him and their sensei. He was pathetic, really.

"Well," Kakashi drawled out as he appeared straight behind Kiba. "What have we learned today?" with the back of his hand, he slammed the Inuzuka against the nearby tree, before sighing and taking out his _Icha Icha Teacher Violence, Forbidden Edition._

"Uh?" Kakashi muttered after a moment, his only visible eye moving to the collapsed Genins who were twitching in heaps of broken bones on the ground. "Ah…I think I might have gone overboard a little bit." He sighed. "Well, I can't expect anything more for today I suppose." He flexed his fingers, conjuring two Kage Bunshins. Gesturing at the fallen twitching bodies, he turned and left.

He was pretty sure they'd be treated in the hospital, and if he had done it well enough…

Then they wouldn't have to participate in the Chuunin exams. There really was no need to risk the three Genins with the upcoming tests. Controlled promotion or not, some things still were bound to happen anyway. Broken bones would give them time to think furthermore, and if worse came to worse and they still managed to heal enough to enter…

He'd make sure they wouldn't, even if he had to place Ami under a Genjutsu.

Asuma Sarutobi was taking a deep breath of nicotine from his overly strong cigar, when he found himself accosted by Inoichi. The Yamanaka clan leader said nothing, only stared dumbly ahead at the marble tombstone that held the names of the deceased of the clans Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi. The most recent name etched on it was clearly noticeable, as was the amount of flowers and lit incense that surrounded it.

_Ino Yamanaka._

"She was always smiling," Inoichi whispered. "She was so happy when she became a kunoichi. I entrusted her safety to you, Asuma," he looked at him, but there was no accusation in his voice, no heat in his tone. "She was the apple of my eye, always…always…"

"Inoichi, you know I would have never—"

"I know," the Yamanaka clan leader remarked. "I know…I heard she was separated from the rest of the group. I heard the enemies were strong, Jounin and Chuunin level. I know there was nothing she could have done, no matter what…but still…" his breath hitched. "Why her?" he muttered. "Why not someone else?"

Asuma said nothing.

The wind gently picked up. "If," Inoichi said slowly. "If I find out what really happened," the Yamanaka clan head stared at Asuma slowly. "I will have my revenge." The man turned and left then, leaving behind the bearded Jounin to take yet one more breath of smoke. He looked up, towards the sky, and then sighed.

It took two days of time to arrange for the procedure to go through. In those two days, Aoba remained firmly set on getting as much training as possible into Sakura, disregarding both Naruto and Sai, who remained eerily perplexed.

By the start of the third day, there was no doubt that something was going on. Their Jounin-sensei was acting too strangely from the norm.

"I'm going to die," Sakura muttered with exhaustion filling her voice. "I can't go on like this…" she coughed.

"Fight on, Cherry," Sai quipped. "Your punches have gotten better," he slowly added. Sakura frowned for a moment, before a small smile spread on her face.

"Fine! _Shannaro_!" her right fist ended up blocked by Sai's left one, who quickly pushed his body to the side of Sakura, slammed his other hand down on the girl's ankle and grabbed at it, before pulling her off balance and then pressing the advantage, an elbow straight to the girl's side.

"From negative to zero," Sai finalized calmly. "It is an improvement."

Sakura growled slightly, before another fit of wracking coughs made her stop.

"Ah," she mumbled. "I—"

It was in that moment, that Aoba-sensei appeared in front of the two Genin.

"We're going to the Torture and Interrogation department," his voice was tight and silent. Sakura raised an eyebrow in perplexity, but Sai remained quiet.

The walk towards the secret department of Konoha was eerily shrouded in tension. Aoba-sensei did not speak or make idle talk, and if anything the way he moved was —to say it in one word— stiff. It was as if he was carrying some sort of weight on his conscience.

They entered through the doors and passed through the corridors that deeply rooted themselves within the monument of Konoha, until they suddenly were gestured to stop before a door.

"Sai, wait here," Aoba remarked quietly, signaling Sakura to walk with him through the door.

Sai complied, and as the door slowly opened and then closed behind them, Sakura watched as inside the room, strapped to a chair and with a heavy dark cloth bound to his eyes, as well as earplugs and a cloth gag to prevent him from speaking, stood a chest-naked Naruto.

He was breathing coarsely, his chest expanding and contracting. Torture instruments stood near the corner of the room, with more being held by wicked looking hooks. A few of the instruments still sported fleshy bits of skin and torn muscle, and the lurching feeling of sickness that Sakura was feeling just intensified.

"Well then," Aoba remarked coolly. "It took a while, but you will be leading the interrogation of shinobi number o-one-two-six-o-seven. He has been found trying to leave Konoha with important information. He planned on settling in with Kirigakure. It was discovered he actually helped in the slaughtering of the civilians and the death of—"

"That's a lie," Sakura whispered, interrupting Aoba. "You're lying."

Her breath hitched. "He can't have—"

"Do not interrupt," Aoba hissed back. "He has been given earplugs, a blindfold and a gag, so he will not know who is interrogating him. He has currently been held in sensory isolation for four hours."

Sakura's own heartbeat was now erratic, to say the least. "He has confessed to the crimes, but not to who was to be his handler within Konoha."

She shook her head, tears menacing to fall from her eyes. Naruto would never have done something like that. He'd never…

"You are hereby tasked with acquiring that information, without killing the subject. It is a C-ranked mission. We will value yours and Sai's own integrity to the ranks of Konohagakure after this, so you would do better starting to convince us you actually _are_ loyal to the leaf." Aoba turned to leave. "Try not to betray my expectations, Sakura. One rogue student to execute is hard enough."

And then the door closed behind him.

Sakura clenched her fists. It couldn't be true. There was no way it was true. Naruto would never…maybe it wasn't Naruto?

Maybe this was a Genjutsu.

"Kai!" she tried, hard. Nothing happened. Naruto still remained there, strapped to the chair. "Kai!" she exclaimed, her voice cracking. "Kai! Kai! –sob- Kai!" tears began to slowly fall down her cheeks. Had Naruto really done that? Had he killed Ino? He couldn't have, could he? But it was Naruto sitting there, wasn't he?

She moved to remove the mouth gag.

Naruto's body flinched as she removed the piece of cloth. "Naruto Uzumaki, shinobi Id o-one-two-six-o-seven."

He whispered coarsely.

Sakura bit her lower lip, before removing his earplugs and his blindfold. Naruto looked at her for a moment, eye wide, and then returned coldly to state. "Naruto Uzumaki, shinobi Id o-one-two-six-o-seven."

"N-Naruto," Sakura whispered. "It's…It's me, Sakura," she said. "Please, tell me it isn't true," she pleaded.

"Naruto Uzumaki, shinobi Id o-one-two-six-o-seven."

"Naruto? They said you killed Ino. They said you wanted to leave for Kirigakure. Please, tell me it isn't true!" Sakura whispered.

"Naruto Uzumaki, shinobi Id o-one-two-six-o-seven."

Naruto's eyes unfocused on her, and rather concentrated on looking around. Was he looking for a way out? She clenched her right fist.

"We went to eat at Hebi just…three or four days ago," she added. "You had Ramen of all things," she shook her head. "You told me you didn't do it. You were so sorry about it that it made my heart clench. Please, tell me it wasn't you."

Naruto just coolly looked at her with a face of frozen ice, before whispering back.

"Naruto Uzumaki, shinobi Id o-one-two-six-o-seven."

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I can't do this," she whispered. "Please, I know you're innocent! Just say something! Tell me!"

"Naruto Uzumaki, shinobi Id o-one-two-six-o—"

Sakura slammed her right fist against Naruto's left cheek. "I don't want your shinobi id! Naruto!" she screeched at him. Her hands grabbed his shoulders. "Tell me the truth! Did you kill Ino!?"

He spat out a small drop of blood from his mouth, but kept on looking at her with firmness.

"Naruto Uzumaki, shinobi Id o-one-two-six-o-seven."

The second fist slammed on his right cheek. The third broke his nose. Sakura was a crying heap by the time the fifth fist connected with the boy's temple.

"Tell. Me. The. Truth! Did you kill Ino!?"

"You…hit…like…a girl," Naruto muttered.

"I am a girl you stupid jerk!" she slapped him after that, tears now freely falling from her cheeks. "Why did you do that!? Why would you go to Kiri!?"

"N…Naruto…Uzumaki, sh—"

Sakura grabbed the first instrument on the table. It was a surgical blade. She moved it close to the boy's right cerulean eye while biting her lips as her trembling hand refused to still itself.

"I'm taking your eye, Naruto. Please, answer me. Please tell me it's a lie and that you're innocent. Please, I don't want to. I don't want to take away your eye. Please don't force me…_please." _She pleaded him as she breathed slowly, the tip of the blade near his eye. This had to be a test. This had to be a lie. They'd stop her before. They wouldn't let her take away Naruto's eyes. Aoba would come in and tell her it was a lie.

There simply was no way they'd let her do this, right?

"Naruto Uzumaki, shin—arghhhH!" and Naruto screamed as she plunged the surgical blade into his left eye socket. He screamed as blood came out and she hastily removed the blade together with the eyeball. He screamed and he didn't stop screaming even as he shut the eyelid close and blood kept on falling.

She held the surgical blade in her right hand and as her breathing hitched…

Nobody came to stop her.

There was no-one. There was no test. It was reality. This was real. Naruto was a traitor. This was real. _This was real. __**This was real**__._ _**THIS. WAS. REAL**_.

"You killed Ino," she whispered. "You killed her, you monster, you sick freak, you…you killed her!" she screamed at him. "Say it! Tell me who else knew! Tell me who your handler in Konoha is! Tell me or I'll take your other eye! Tell me now!"

Her shoulders moved up and down in shock and silent unbelieving laughter. Her face was a mixture of sorrow, disbelief and soundless agony. "Tell me," she whispered once more.

Her left hand grabbed blindly another instrument, a pair of pliers. "Or I'll take out your teeth one by one."

She moved the pliers to the boy's mouth. "Tell me the truth, Naruto."

"Nar—"

A tooth was forcefully plucked out.

"You killed Ino," she whispered. "I'm not going to forgive you for this," she added. "She was my friend. And you killed her. You're a worthless bastard. You don't deserve to have friends. You don't deserve to have anyone at all."

She grabbed a poker, letting the pliers fall. She slammed it into his right hand, hearing the satisfying crunch of broken bones as the sharp metal pierced through the skin and passed straight through. "Tell me who your handler is!" she screamed at him, twisting the poker into his hand. "I don't want to hurt you, Naruto, but…"

Sakura was about to grab another instrument —a saw, of all things— when Naruto croaked out with a whispered voice.

"I'm sorry," tears were in his eyes. "I can't…I can't –cough- do this," he choked slightly.

It was then that Sakura's eyes widened as she realized just what she had been doing till then. She brought both hands to her mouth and turned green, before ending up moving her head to the side and retching on the floor. She heaved until her breathing grew ragged and her mouth tasted of rancid vomit.

Sweat fell down from her forehead as she brought her hands to move her hair back behind her shoulders. "Please Naruto," she whimpered. "Tell me the truth. I can't do this… I don't want to hurt you."

Naruto just looked at her with his remaining eye, the cerulean orb filled with tears.

They looked at each other for a moment more, before the door of the room rattled and was swung aside as fast as it could be.

Aoba dashed in the room in a flash, grabbing Sakura's wrists and slamming her on the ground before another masked shinobi moved to where Naruto was. It was barely a moment of time, but she just seemed to lose her bearings for that instant. When she regained them, she was still on the floor, but this time she was in the same room as Inoichi Yamanaka.

"Sakura? Take a deep breath, would you?" Ino's father said so with his hands in the familiar form for the Yamanaka's technique, and when her eyes widened for a fraction, the name of Jutsu was already out of the man's lips.

It lasted less than a second.

Inoichi took a deep breath, and then nodded to her sensei who released her a second later. "She's clear."

"What's going on!?" she screamed, trying her best to hurriedly stand up, moving backwards and getting her back against the wall. "Sensei?"

Aoba looked at her with a frown, before nodding back to Inoichi. "I'll take it from here, Yamanaka-san."

"All right," Inoichi turned and left without another word.

"Sakura, you should sit," Aoba whispered as he gestured for the chair. Now that Sakura could take in her surroundings, she realized she was in an interrogation room, one with two chairs and a desk in between, a glass panel standing on one side of the wall.

"I'm fine here, sensei," she replied calmly. Her eyes darted to the door and then the glass panel. "What's going on?"

"Sakura, I left you to spar with Sai and went to get Naruto from his sensei, right?" he asked her. She nodded slowly.

"When I reached his sensei, I was told he had already left with me," Aoba remarked. She frowned, suddenly understanding where this was going and paling drastically. "I returned back, but by then you and Sai were no longer there."

She collapsed on the ground, looking at her hands in shock.

"I thought something was wrong, and went towards the gates of Konoha. I thought that, if an infiltrator was present and using my face, he'd try and leave with my team. I had planned on getting you all for a mission just barely in the outskirts of Konoha. I thought the man would make a move _knowing_ that…but this time the 'Looking underneath the underneath' actually brought me to a dead end." He breathed slowly. "I warned the gate guards and then hurried to the Hokage. The moment I found out I had checked in with the Torture and Interrogation department, I hurried there together with an Anbu team."

"Oh Kami," Sakura mouthed. "God…_God_…"

"That's when we found you like that."

Sakura remained silent for a moment. Her eyes locked with her hands as she flexed her fingers, opening and closing her palms, as if taking interest of her wrist veins.

"I…I _tortured_ Naruto," she whispered. "Why? Why wouldn't he tell me he was innocent?" she nearly choked as those words left. "Why would he keep on saying that?"

"We can assume that 'I' whoever it was, told him it was a test on pain tolerance. It's normally a compulsive test for becoming Jounin, but Chuunins aren't obliged to take it. He thought it was a test. He probably kept on repeating his shinobi Id, right?"

She just looked at her sensei for a moment, before the memory of what she had done returned to her. She shuddered and hugged herself tightly, before nodding numbly. "I should have known," she whimpered. "I should have stopped. It should have been a test. _I should have stopped_."

"You couldn't know, Sakura," Aoba remarked soothingly. "In your eyes, I had given you an order, and—"

"Naruto is my teammate!" she screamed back at him, tears in the corner of her eyes. "I was supposed to know he'd never do that! I was supposed to free him and get him out of there! I wasn't supposed to torture him or _believe you over him_!"

She breathed in angrily. "Where is he?" she asked.

Aoba remained quiet for a second, before replying calmly. "Sakura, you were ordered by 'me' to torture him?"

"You told me I had to! I just didn't have to kill him, but everything else? I did everything else! I removed one of his eyes! I broke his hand! I…I took out one of his teeth…I was going to _saw off his ear_," she whimpered. "I'm…I can't…I…" she stammered, shaking her head and bringing both hands to her ears. "I can't." She pleaded with misery in her voice.

"Sakura," Aoba took a step forward, before kneeling next to the pink-haired Genin. "You have to calm down. You can't crack. If you crack, the enemy wins. You don't want them to win, right?"

"I want to kill them," she whispered back, clenching her hands in fists as she lowered them to her sides. "I want to kill them, again and again. I want to _break_ their _bones_ and _saw off_ their _limbs_." She closed her eyes and breathed one last time, heavily. "Where's Naruto?"

"He's being treated at the hospital. A normal shinobi would have his career end," he added slowly, watching as Sakura's face turned pale. "Knowing Naruto? Tomorrow he'll be up and about."

She was about to smile, but then she froze. Sakura shook her head quietly a moment later. "I…I need to change teams," she whispered. "I told him things I…I didn't mean to, but I…"

"Are you sure?" Aoba asked calmly. "You should come out clear with him," her sensei remarked. "If you don't, you might carry this burden forever."

She bit her lower lip, before closing her eyes and shuddering visibly with all of her body. She exhaled, letting her breath out before opening her eyes again. "Will he even forgive me?"

"You can't know that unless you try, right?"

"I'm afraid," she whispered.

"If he doesn't, then it's fine to change teams…"

"No, sensei," Sakura replied. Her eyes looked into his, before adding. "I'm afraid _he_ _will_."

The Kyuubi was lazily moving a piece on the Shogi board. His crimson eyes completely unfazed by the blond boy who literally floating in the water on the other side of his cage. It was as if he didn't care at all by the non-responsiveness of the boy.

"Your race will never cease to amuse me," the Kyuubi remarked. "To make of torture an art…I am more merciful: I kill or I do not kill. The between was never part of my nature."

"Fuck off," Naruto muttered. "Will I get my eyesight back?"

"Of course you will," Kurama scoffed. "I can create flesh and blood, bones and skin. You think an _eye_ is something I cannot give back?"

"Why is it that I'm afraid?" Naruto remarked quietly. He was floating in the small amount of water of the sewer, his gaze —both of his eyes in his mind still saw— unhindered as he watched the cracked and chipped paint on the ceiling.

"Because your race fears pain and death," the Kyuubi pointed out. "Humans fear what they cannot comprehend."

"So you understand it?"

"Death is the end. Pain is the road to the end. What else is there to say? What else is there to understand? To suffer is to walk the road of life towards the road of the end."

"Nothing more?" he retorted. "Then why suffer to begin with? Why not simply die and not feel the pain?"

The Kyuubi remained quiet. "To live without pain would make life itself meaningless. You cannot understand true happiness without suffering first. The mere act of waking up a morning in a bed is nothing more than something…casual, unless you have spent years sleeping on jagged rocks." A second of silence elapsed. "In which case, it becomes bliss."

"So you have to suffer to enjoy life?"

"A life without pain yields nothing," the Kyuubi spoke. "You could say that the Yin and the Yang exist in balance, that good is in evil and evil is in good, but then again…there is always an unbalance. Sometimes more evil is around than good, and the good that remains becomes smaller and smaller."

"And then you'd come around and save it?" Naruto snorted.

"That was my purpose," the Kyuubi whispered back. His tone was somber, rather than condescending. "My reason to exist. My only truth…to be the reaper of malice. And then your race took it away. Take away flight from a bird, and he will die. Take away the edge of a sword, and it will be discarded."

"We're both prisoners," Naruto muttered. His arms stretching as he floated lifelessly. "But I can't let you destroy the people who are precious to me."

"Oh," the Kyuubi smiled. Naruto didn't need to look at the fox to feel the smug grin. "And what about those who aren't? Would you let me out, if I swore not to kill those who you value as friends?"

"I'd have to think about it," Naruto didn't miss a beat in replying. "Hey," suddenly, Naruto stood sitting, his lower half in the water as he watched the Kyuubi from afar, in his cage. "I have a question."

"Amuse me with it, then," the Kyuubi snorted.

"You read minds, right?"

"I do not 'read' minds. I am made of malice and hatred. I am thus 'made' of evil thoughts. Wickedness flows through me. Thus…"

"You didn't talk as I was tortured," he retorted. "You said nothing as Sakura attacked me."

"Why would I? There is a different between a thought made of malice and one of ill-guided justice. Malice is when the hatred is willed for no other reason but _pain itself._ To make you suffer because of your mere existence? That is malice. To torture you because you killed a friend? That is…should we call it justice?"

"But it wasn't the truth!"

"What matters isn't what is or is not, what matters is the _intention_ behind the action; to do evil without reason, that is malice."

"So…you can't read minds."

"Or maybe I can, and I am only lying to you."

"You said that if you were to lie, I'd lose all my trust in you," he rebuffed the fox.

"Maybe, but then again…you _listen_, don't you? As long as there is an ear…there is a hope. A hope for a better tomorrow, a better future…a hope for peace."

Naruto remained quiet, as he absorbed those words. "What was the sage of the six paths like?"

"He was…beyond comprehension," Kurama remarked quietly. "He was a force, but not of nature…if I had to try and explain it…just like the sun is the force of life, so was the Sage the force of humans. He was the embodiment of all the things humans truly could become. He was a being of compassion and strength. A being of power and nurture the likes of which never walked the earth before and never will again..." the tone was wistful. "And if he were to come back, he'd probably exterminate all of your precious villages."

"Why?"

"The time before him was that of the warring states of the Samurais. The shinobi were born from the countryside, from the farmers who wished to protect their homes but could not fight head-on with the armored men. The Chakra became their weapon, taught to them by the brightest of them all. The Sage was the bright light of hope in the wicked darkness. The rampaging demons were slaughtered by his advance, the samurais forced to retreat. In the end he begged the people to let go of ideas of revenge. He asked of them to use the shinobi arts to help people, and not to kill with them."

The Kyuubi chuckled. "He was not heard."

The fox slowly stood on its legs. "_They would not listen to him!_" the roar of the nine-tailed demon shook the very walls around Naruto.

"And from the war that followed, from the use of techniques, of acts so depraved the likes of which you would never even recover from…the Juubi was born. The source of malice! Of hatred and death beyond any others! And when the Samurais were driven in a corner, when everything was meant to end…the Juubi attacked and the sage battled him, because even then, even as he watched humans fight and kill each other he still loved them all the same!" there was a sharp evil chuckle in the Kyuubi's tone now, "And he won."

The fox shook his head slowly. "He shouldn't have. The humans were only reaping what they had sown centuries before! This was their punishment for having infringed upon things not of their comprehension! It wasn't a massacre, but a justice-driven revenge of Nature against humans! And when he split us up, when he separated the Juubi into nine different beings, he called us Bijuus. He entrusted us with tasks. He told us to steady our arms and seek peace with men. He told us to be guardians, and not judges and executioners…"

And the Kyuubi snorted as a bitter laugh now escape the giant fox's lips.

"And as the world found peace we believed him…we believed in our father, who couldn't be wrong."

Silence slowly descended.

"And then he died," the fox murmured. "Better yet," it added. "He was _killed by his own son_."

Kurama laughed, a high and bitter tone that made Naruto's own heart wrench.

"Ironic! He fought for humans, he bled and lived to help them…and he was killed by his own son! The oldest one, the one which he loved the most…the one entrusted with the power to control us…he could not accept his father's decision to name the second one heir over him."

The Kyuubi shook his head. "Arrogance. Pride. Hatred. Malice. Death. Blood. And thus the Uchiha and the Senju clans were born. Both renounced their surname. Both refused to follow the ways of their father. And in the end…they battled one against the other," the beast lowered itself back in his cage. "And in the end, slaughter was all they did, and finally…to us they turned. We entered battle. We fought and bled. We killed. We were warped. We were twisted. Finally…" the fox shuddered.

"Finally we were trapped. Jinchuuriki were born. And then they were delivered as cattle, as offers of peace. _**YOUR PEACE WAS BOUGHT FROM OUR SLAVERY**_!" the Kyuubi's scream of anger rose beyond what Naruto could suffer, as both of his hands were brought to his ears.

"_**WE WERE ENSLAVED; WE**_, so that _**YOU**_ could live in peace!" the fox laughed out loud, but this one wasn't filled with hatred…as much as bitter sadness, agony beyond what Naruto could comprehend. "_We were your guardians…and you made us your prisoners."_

His eyes narrowed.

"So, do you still wonder why we are feared? How can there be peace between us and your race, when your race is responsible for our state?"

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I—"

"Your excuses change nothing," the Kyuubi snorted. "Your actions, on the other hand, _will_."

The Kyuubi's eyes moved to the side of his cage, but not towards the seal, no. They moved towards another spot in the wall, one that held nothing visible.

"This is what you should have listened to," he barked to the empty air. "This is what _you refused to hear_."

"Who's there?" Naruto asked curious.

"One who is no longer important," the Kyuubi snorted. "Now wake up, Naruto Uzumaki. Wake up and show me…what your _future_ will be."

And Naruto opened his eyes, one of the two hidden behind a thick set of bandages, as the light nearly blinded him. His right hand was in a cast, and as he watched the blurred forms moving in front of him, he couldn't help but hear a light chuckle.

"They say the student always tries to imitate their sensei, but did you really have to try and get wounded just like me, Naruto?"

And Danzo Shimura's words made Naruto form a small smile, as he watched the figure wobbling closer. "I suppose, in your case, that they won't scar."

"I'll be up by tomorrow, sensei," he whispered back. His throat felt parched, and he felt a strange weight on his side, near his left arm.

"I know. They did give you a three weeks prognosis…but knowing you? Tomorrow is even late," Danzo was smiling; something that Naruto had seen the old man do only a few times. "However," here the smile disappeared and was replaced by a frown. "I am disappointed in you, Naruto. You should have realized it was a trap the moment your teammate began inflicting normally career-ending wounds on your body."

"S-sorry?"

"Sorry isn't a good enough excuse," Danzo remarked, as he turned to leave. "We will be increasing your training in perception. You must be able to see when someone is lying to you, Naruto. How are you ever going to become a shinobi if you simply believe without a fault?"

"I…I understand, sensei."

Danzo nodded, and then left.

Naruto remained quiet, until the weight on his left arm shifted slightly and a small moan came from that direction. He watched as Sakura slowly shifted her face, having used the sides of his bed as a pillow. There was a wool cape over her shoulders, as outside the moon shone brightly.

He didn't frown as much as stare perplexed while the girl slowly opened her eyes. They glittered in the light reflected from the moon rays.

"N-Naruto?" she whispered, her voice croaked.

"Hey," he replied with a smile.

There were tears running across Sakura's face, as she instinctively hugged him tight, before starting to cry on his shoulder. The rays of the moon shone over this picture filled with relief…

And somewhere, a voice spoke cut in the darkness.

"Orochimaru-sama? We await further instructions."

**Author's notes**

…

**Ah…do you feel it? The Angst. The powerful Angst that grows. That lurks and is ready to strike like an Alien in a ventilation vent. Like a Necromorph appearing out of a dark corner.**

**It's there.**

**Can you feel it?**

**Good…because **_**it's coming.**_** Despair is real…**

_**And you will feel it!**_

**As always shadenight123-dot-blogspot-dot-com for inter-chapters update or just generally knowing what I'm doing.**


	16. Revealing the Broken Bits

Introverted

Chapter Sixteen

Hiruzen was pissed.

The Sandaime Hokage stood in front of the source of his displeasure, namely, Danzo. The Yami of shinobi was instead perplexed for barely a second —that late at night, it was either a really important discussion or an assassination attempt. If it had been the latter however, Hiruzen wouldn't have come dressed in his Hokage's robes, unless this one in front of him was a Kage Bunshin, and the real Hiruzen was actually positioning himself to strike from the shadows.

"Such a visit this late at night, Hokage-sama?" he quipped calmly, his gaze firm. "Is there something—"

Danzo was pinned against the wall, a kunai a mere inch away from his face as a second Hiruzen held him there firmly. The second one was wearing the battle armor the sandaime Hokage himself had favored during his time as an active shinobi. It was pitch black and with reinforced gauntlets, somber but effective.

"To enter the Torture and Interrogation department one needs the codes to get through the security checkpoints. Secret Anbu hand-signs are required prior to and afterwards in order to ensure who enters and leave is exactly whom is claimed to be. Aoba checked in, but Aoba isn't the culprit. So the question is, Danzo, who could _know_ all of that," Hiruzen's voice was barely a hiss as he spoke. "And if it isn't you, then you'd better give me more than just an alibi."

The silence was thick. The tension palpable. It was Danzo who spoke, breaking that unnerving moment.

"I know who did it," he calmly whispered. "And you know it too."

"Nobody was supposed to know," Hiruzen's kunai was removed from in front of Danzo's face. "They were supposed to participate in the silent graduation. They were supposed to head over to the facility deep in the forest, to be trained for Chuunin and maybe be set on the course for Anbu. The attack was _precise_ and _surgical_. It reeks of you, Danzo."

Hiruzen breathed slowly as he made the Kunai disappear, the other Hokage in his white robe popping in a small plume of smoke. "Then again, you would have acted less subtly, to ensure the fault would end on someone else. As it is, I can easily say the purpose was to make us doubt of Inoichi Yamanaka."

"Somebody has it set against the Yamanaka's clan it seems," Danzo remarked. "Or maybe against you?"

"They can't really expect me to let Naruto's team participate fully into the exam for Chuunin. I'll just postpone their graduation. There isn't a need to let them reach the final bout of the Chuunin Exams," Hiruzen's voice was barely hearable as the Hokage whispered.

"But maybe that isn't the purpose?" Danzo quipped. "Maybe the purpose is another," the Yami of shinobi acquiesced… "Maybe it has everything to do with _postponing_ his Chuunin graduation?"

Hiruzen's eyes narrowed. "The only reason would be someone who didn't wish for Naruto to earn the…trust to learn certain techniques."

"That level of cunningness is tied to only one person, Hiruzen," Danzo muttered. "And if it's that person, then it's _dangerous_."

"So I either let them participate to promote Naruto, or I don't and I see him win? He learned from me, he'll earn something whether I do or do not act," Hiruzen brought his right hand to his temple. "Why did it have to be Orochimaru, of all people, to learn best from me? Couldn't it have been Jiraiya?"

Danzo frowned. "Will he come back for the exams?"

"He will, or I will force him," Hiruzen snapped. "Can I count on Root doing its job, and not just trying to undermine my own shinobi's authorities?"

"When has—"

"Danzo, the time for petty word games ended the moment Orochimaru entered the picture. You know him, I know him. He learned from us both. He learned from Anbu and from Root. He knows the inside out of Konoha, and while patrols and guard signs may have changed he has the ability to certainly discern them within an eye glance."

Danzo nodded slowly, as Hiruzen kept on talking.

"He will destroy Konoha, Danzo. You know that and I know that. Mizuki was one of his men; Orochimaru's aim was to destabilize the Jinchuuriki, because he knows he is the trump card that might foil any plan."

"Sheer power does that, even to cunningness," Danzo chuckled. "Well, you could always…"

"Let you adopt him? Danzo," Hiruzen's arms crossed over his chest. "We both know that won't come to pass. I barely managed to contain the uproar following you training him _on the basics_, do you think they'd let a full adoption pass?"

"If you were to just tell me who silently stonewalls the option, or simply tell me their _reasons_…" the Yami of shinobi remarked. "I could end it."

"No," Hiruzen shook his head. "You've already done _enough_ with Naruto to last a lifetime. Luckily, some things you will never be able to take away from him."

"You went to visit him too?"

"Yes," the Kami of shinobi smiled briefly at that. "He was _fine_."

"He thought it a test. I suppose if it had been sprung with him actually accused, the results would have been different."

"You seem to forget what his dream is," Hiruzen pointed out calmly.

"You realize dreams change with time," Danzo chuckled. "And that reality always finds the way to remove them from our imagination."

Hiruzen exhaled slowly.

"The Chuunin Exams will be tough."

"How will you place the teams? The usual 'show' will have to be avoided."

"I can't, not without showing weakness to the clans. I already failed to protect one of their heirs and—"

"That Inoichi didn't have a spare tucked away…really, how stupid could he be, to make his only chance of preserving his family line a shinobi and not even train her _personally_?"

"He did, but he went soft on her apparently."

The clock on the wall chimed three in the morning. Danzo knew this would be a long night, especially by the fact the Hokage seemed relentless in talking with him. Maybe the late hour had made him in need of some 'recollection' time with another old war glory.

He doubted that was the case.

"Sit down Hiruzen: I'll come back with tea. We'll be up all night, I suppose."

"I'll help," the Hokage answered as he followed. "I should apologize for nearly killing you."

"Don't sugarcoat words, Hiruzen. You realized I had the Four Inverted Seal on my chest when you pinned me to the wall. That's why you stopped."

Hiruzen just chuckled. "Ah…I can never hide anything from you, my old friend."

"When was it, do you think, that we stopped simply talking, and ended up needing the threat of mutual destruction to keep us civil?"

"I think it was sometime after Tobirama-sensei's death."

"I see," Danzo commented. "Checking for poisons in the tea-leaves?"

"_They_ know I'm here," Hiruzen quipped.

"Oh, well…"

In five minutes, poison-free tea was between them, on a small table as the two old shinobi sat on the opposite sides of the tea cups and the fuming teapot.

"Kakashi's team is out," Hiruzen spoke. "They suffered a training accident. While Kiba might still be viable as well as Ami, Sasuke won't be combat effective at least for two months."

Danzo took a sip of the tea.

"The Hatake was always one for dramatics. He did it on purpose, didn't he?"

Calmly, Hiruzen moved his gaze sideways. "I think he wanted to show Sasuke humility. If he had maimed that brutally someone else of the team, Sasuke would have probably become insufferable. At least, that's what his reasoning was."

"The bitter pill of _humility_? I recall someone who had to have it beaten into him too, _Saru_." Danzo chuckled. "We will see if it has earned him something character-wise. You required repeated _teaching_ of the same method, if I recall correctly."

"He did activate the Sharingan however. Apparently, the trauma was strong enough."

"Good," Danzo nodded. He frowned slightly. "We don't need to fill in Yamanaka Ino's spot, but we could move the one hundred year old Genin... We can place the Inuzuka in his place and have that team _pass_ without trouble. The _Gatsuga_ can be considered a finishing move together with the Akimichi's own, and tracking can boost them as the information retrieval team."

"Kurenai's team will participate as well, however…since they do have the Hyuga heiress and Orochimaru might target her…"

"My operative can be moved to their team. The civilian can instead be moved…"

"No," Hiruzen remarked. "If Orochimaru's aim is Naruto, he will need whatever teammates can work with him best against the sannin, at least long enough for the Anbu to arrive. Kosuke can move in Kurenai's team in the place of Hibachi."

"And if Orochimaru's aim is truly Naruto, he cannot have his teammates with him," Danzo stressed back. "Think about it Hiruzen. He will break the boy as an objective; that is _clear_. Do you want to see the Kyuubi appear in the middle of Konoha? Keep the boy and his teammates _separated_ as much as possible. Make it look like a fall out. Order them to act as if they no longer were together. This is as much for Naruto's safety as it is for theirs. Make _this_ their silent graduation."

"Are you actually _caring_ for the boy, Danzo?" Hiruzen raised his right eyebrow with perplexity.

"He is the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, Hiruzen. The only reason Kumo did not attack us after the Nine-Tailed fox passed through the village was because we lied and told the world our Jinchuuriki was the strongest and was an adult. We had Orochimaru pass off as the new Jinchuuriki. We had him develop his blasted seal Hiruzen so that he could better play the part! We cut him off when he began to lose his sanity…but we are the ones _responsible_ for that!"

"You do care," Hiruzen's tone was amused. "For Konoha, I think, but you do care."

"Of course _I care_," Danzo muttered. "We aren't discussing a random shinobi. The loss of the Kyuubi, the loss of the Jinchuuriki…it would mean death for Konoha. We would be destroyed. Without an equally strong power, without another Jinchuuriki to prevent total war…_we'd be destroyed_. Iwa would fall on us. Kumo would prey on us. We survive because we have the strongest Jinchuuriki, and _nobody_ wants to battle him…should we lose him, however…"

"What if that was his purpose, however? To keep the boy separated from his teammates?"

"Then at the very least he will not be able to get them both at the same time, Hiruzen. We'll have the Anbu shadow them."

"That would draw too much attention," Hiruzen shook his head. "We'll have to trust them with the mission."

"So, if we give both civilians to Naruto, we can move Sai to Kurenai's team. Kiba will then move as planned with Asuma. That leaves us with Sakura Haruno and Kosuke Maruboshi."

"She can suffer from the stress of what has happened, and be considered ineligible for the exam." Danzo drawled out. "However wasting Kosuke's skills…"

"I think we should leave Sakura out, and have Kosuke take the place of Hibachi-kun. There is a history between him and Naruto, after all."

"All right, we can do it that way…but what if the other civilian doesn't wish to participate in the exams?"

Hiruzen's face turned slightly dark.

"Then we _will_ force her."

"You could always promote Naruto personally," Danzo remarked slowly. His only eye pierced straight through Hiruzen's face. "That you didn't even _propose_ it…that you purposefully _ignored_ it…Hiruzen, what are you planning?"

"To end this," the Kami of Shinobi remarked. "Once and for all…Orochimaru must be stopped, and as slippery as he is, this is the best chance to get him."

"When you dangle a piece of bait to catch a mackerel, you should be careful not to attract sharks," Danzo murmured. "Because if your fishing rod breaks…"

"You should retire, Danzo. The moment you began using fishing metaphors is usually a _giveaway _of old age."

They shared a chuckle. It was hollow and held no real laughter within, and no real emotion. It was as if they had simply done so because of habit, rather than because they actually had enjoyed the small banter.

"So Aoba's team will be composed of Naruto, the civilian girl and Kosuke. We should bring Kosuke in on the plan."

"He won't accept it," Danzo spoke. "We are doing no better than using Naruto as bait after all. Considering how hard he is still taking the loss of his teammates…"

Hiruzen nodded.

"I will brief the team tomorrow."

At the same time as that conversation went on in Danzo's house, in Naruto's hospital room two Genin were currently locked in an embarrassing silence.

Sakura had her hands clenched into fists, both firmly pressed against her thighs as she looked down firmly —the floor was very interesting.

Naruto instead was looking everywhere _but_ at Sakura.

"I'm sorry," Sakura whispered —her voice barely hearable. "I… How are you?"

Naruto shuddered, before exhaling slowly. "I'm fine," he looked at her. "So, they actually asked you to torture me? You know, you've got talents with words," he smiled. It was such a bitter smile that Sakura blurted it out as soon as the thought reached her brain.

"Stop that," she muttered. "You're not Sai, stop _smiling_ like that." She trembled. "It…it creeps me out," she bitterly replied. "You should be _screaming_ at me. Why aren't you? Be angry, Naruto! I…I…"

"Being angry never works," Naruto whispered. "Being…angry, yelling, ranting, screaming…it never works," his voice was cracked as he spoke, his eyes mystified. "People don't listen. They avert their gazes. They ignore you. It doesn't matter what you do then, they just don't care. You start wondering if you're invisible. You know, the Kyuubi's right: _people just don't want to listen_." His eyes widened a moment later.

"The Kyuubi?" Sakura's voice was now holding a slightly fearful tone. "Naruto, you spoke with it?"

"I," he breathed raggedly. "I…"

He had to say something.

"I did," he admitted. "I was…in a sewer, the pain was so much I fainted and," Sakura's hand had gone to her mouth to suppress the startled gasp, but tears were already flowing from the kunoichi's eyes, "and I ended up in front of a cage."

Naruto shuddered. It had to be the chilly night, rather than a foreboding feeling of bad things to happen. "The fox told me…some stuff, and I listened to him."

He shook his head. "But it's not important."

"Naruto," Sakura murmured. "I," she breathed in slowly. "I should leave the team."

The boy's eyes widened, as a startled question rose to his lips. "_Why_?"

Sakura's eyes bulged as she clenched her fists. "Why!? Come on, Naruto! How can you ask me why!? I did this! I'm the reason you're in a hospital bed! I'm the reason you fainted and met the Kyuubi! I'm the one at fault! Why aren't you angry at me!? Why are you so…so forgiving?" she choked on her own words. "I'm not worthy of that. I'm not…"

"Sakura," Naruto remarked. "You did what they asked you to do," he slowly nudged her chin up with his left hand. "And you're my friend," he added as Sakura's breath hitched again. "Don't friends forgive each other?"

"Friends don't torture each other," she croaked out. Her hands went to her face, as her shoulders moved up and down. She cried in silence, letting tears fall one after the other.

Naruto was embarrassed. He had no idea what to do. He felt fine, and he had practically lost consciousness soon after being hit in the hand. The Kyuubi had patched him up completely. He was pretty sure he could leave the hospital in the following hour, if he actually wished for it.

His left hand gently wrapped itself around the right one of Sakura, pulling it down. "Ehi," he whispered. "It's fine. Really," he added quietly. "I'm…I'm as good as new. You don't have to blame yourself."

"Naruto," Sakura muttered. "Would you have done the same, in my position?" she asked slowly. "Would you have tortured me, had our roles been reversed?"

He closed his right eye, as his left was held by the bandage pressed against the side of his face. Would he have?

"No," he admitted. "That makes me a horrible shinobi however, you know that," he added immediately. "Shinobi should carry out their orders always…you did the right thing, Sakura."

Sakura chuckled. It was a bitter chuckle, filled with loathing and anger at oneself. "Naruto," she shook her head as she spoke, "I can't forgive myself. I can't _excuse_ myself. What I did…What I did to you…there's no excuse. There's no way you can forgive me like this. I…No, you can't. It's wrong. Please, please don't."

He smiled. He smiled as Sakura's eyes just kept on crying and producing tears, which fell down her chin and landed quietly on her lowered and clenched fists. "But I do," he retorted. "I do because…" he frowned. He nodded to himself. "Because _someone_ has to," he replied. "If I don't forgive you, if I keep being angry at you, then we will both suffer in the end. You aren't at fault. You learned from this, right? You won't do it again, and that…"

Sakura ran out of the room.

She ran out of the room as a sobbing wreck, not even stopping to close the door behind her. Naruto remained there stumped. He fell back down on the pillows after a few seconds, when Sakura's action finally settled in. She had run away.

He shuddered as he closed his only eye.

The next morning, true to his thoughts, Naruto was out of the hospital. Aoba-sensei had brought him a change of clothes, and the moment he stepped out of the sterile environment that smelled of alcohol and disinfectant, he exhaled slowly.

"Sensei," he looked at the Jounin. "What happens now?"

"First off," Aoba spoke calmly. "We have developed a passcode." He gestured for him to follow and began to walk up a wall of the nearby building. "When we meet, you must bring your right hand to remove dust from your left shoulder. The hello should be 'hey guys' to which the others should answer with a 'You're late!' If one of this doesn't check then observe and stall."

"Understood sensei."

"Good," he remarked. They sped through the rooftops, Naruto quietly watching as his sensei seemed keeping an extra-eye on every single one of his moves. Was he watching out in case he was lying about his physical condition? He suspected Aoba always tested and checked his students repeatedly during the arc of the same day…

"Are you all right?" Aoba whispered as they neared the Hokage tower. "You don't have to force yourself," he added. "If you don't want to see Sakura, she was the first to want to make sure that…"

"I'm fine," he huffed. "Why are you all making this some sort of big deal? I forgave her last night."

Aoba narrowed his eyes on Naruto's face for a moment. "Naruto? Did Sakura tell you it wasn't a test, but someone trying to psychologically break apart the team?"

Naruto stumbled on the next jump, using his right hand to get enough reach for the following rooftop and pulling himself up with one smooth motion. "She didn't," he remarked. "But it doesn't change anything. What's done is done, right?"

"I don't know," Aoba murmured. "I mean, this sort of things," he stopped and ordered Naruto to halt too. "You know, I'll tell you a story." He crossed his arms over his chest, as his eyes bore into Naruto's own. How the Kyuubi managed to regenerate his eye to perfection was something even he couldn't comprehend. The eye was an extremely delicate organ…and yet apparently the fox didn't need more than a night of sleep to do so.

"Captured shinobi were usually forced to torture one another to break them even further. You tortured someone else among your teammates and you could live another day. In the end people broke because of the trust they gave to each other was torn apart by the act…" he muttered. "You _think_ you are fine, but you _can't be_."

"Sensei," Naruto looked back at him with a tired gaze. "What do you want me to say? I'm tired of yelling. I'm tired of screaming. What should I say? That sorry doesn't cut it? That excuses should never be pronounced to begin with? I made a mistake once, and I was forgiven…with poison." He chuckled grimly. His right hand went through his dark raven hair. "I even have to dye my hair to get through the streets unnoticed. I take to the alleys and the rooftops. I avoid the general population. I do what I can and yet it never is enough, is it? So what more do you want from me? This is just another shitty card —one of the many given to me, and one of the many that have still to come. I don't care anymore," he shook his head.

"No," he suddenly added. "I think it's because I no longer am obliged to. I mean…I always thought 'if I smile and ask kindly, the old lady won't tell me there are no sweets for me', or maybe 'if I'm nice to the Jiji in the park, he will let me on the ride with the other kids' and you know what? It never worked. I was always different. I was always the one who was pointed at, the one left alone, isolated. I cried at them and did it work? No. I yelled at them and did it work? No. I screamed. I ranted. I annoyed them and they would yell at me, finally they would look at me, for at least a few minutes. And then…then they would go back to ignoring me."

His shoulders began to tremble. "Words mean _nothing_. I…I killed the only father-figure I could possibly ever hope to have, it was a mistake, they told me it was an accident. They told me the can of paint, the jagged edge, the nicking of the vein in the neck…they told me it was an accident. The other one, the wounded one…they told me it couldn't be my fault. That a shinobi had passed by to save me, that it was normal for me to be in shock, and not remember the event," he laughed slightly. "But I _remembered_. I remembered the other man throw a fist at me, only for Teuchi-san to step between us. I remembered him falling after being hit, his neck hitting against the damn can of paint that I hoped, I sincerely kept on hoping had not fallen upwards every time I remembered the scene…and yet it did, and the edge was jagged. I don't know why. I don't even want to understand why. I know it was my fault. It was my prank."

His hands were clenched. "What can you tell to a daughter who loses her only parent? I'm sorry? That's what, three words? Three words you can say in a single breath? Do people expect 'I'm sorry' to be some sort of miracle cure that soothes wounds? Do they expect it to work? Why ask for forgiveness then!? Why insist on it! It's easy to say 'I'm sorry!' it's easy to mean it. But is it worth it? I…" he closed his eyes for a moment, taking a step forward. "I don't know! I…I went to the funeral. The others, they kicked me out. I endured. I told myself 'I'll say I'm sorry to Ayame-san. I owe her that'. And you know what?"

He smiled bitterly.

"I went to her, right in front of her, and said 'I'm sorry'. She looked at me. She looked at me with her own eyes and answered back. 'That won't bring my father back, _demon'_." A single tear fell down Naruto's cheek.

"And she was right, you know? Teuchi didn't appear because I said I was sorry. He didn't appear because I went to do the right thing and said I was sorry. Nothing changed. Then, one day, she looked at me walking along the street and called my name. She had grieved, she had calmed down, and she apologized," he bitterly gritted his teeth. "Was that when she decided to have her revenge, to poison me? Were her words of forgiveness only lies?" he shook his head. "I'll never know," he muttered. "She's dead after all, isn't she?"

Aoba shuddered as he took a step forward. "Naruto, accidents…"

"Accidents happen. It was a mistake. You couldn't know it would end like this. This isn't your fault. Don't apologize." Naruto's eyes were glazed over. "Those words…_**they mean nothing**_!" he screamed the last part. "You can scream them! Yell them! Rant them to the sky! I'm sorry I'm the goddamn Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi Konoha, so please kindly stop fucking with my life! And you know what!? Fuck no! We'll keep on making your life hell because we can and you can't say shit to us!" he pointed his finger at his sensei. "Do you know how many time I asked why, and the Sandaime lied to me? Do you know how many times I begged someone, anyone, to tell me why? What I had of different, what I had that made me glared at? What I had that made others look at me as if I was some sort of bug, some sort of horrible creature or monster!? And, and," he began to laugh midway through his words. "And they said 'ask the Sandaime!' and the Sandaime said 'It's nothing Naruto, some people are like that'."

He clapped both hands together, "Fucking fantastic!" he screamed. "The people of Konoha are _wonderful_! But…but I suppose," he whispered then, his eyes moving sideways. "That I shouldn't hate them. Since they're just ignorant fools, right? Imbeciles who should be euthanized for the betterment of the rest," he closed his eyes, "and you know what?" he growled then. "I don't even care about what Sakura did. I expected this. I think, deep down, I knew I'd pay for my crimes anyway. My crime…of being alive and breathing while Ino isn't. I suppose this is all there was, right? Do you want to ask me if I'm fine again, sensei?"

Naruto's breathing was ragged, as he wheezed and panted, swatting away the sweat from his forehead. His eyes closed as he felt the headache pounding against his brain slowly recede.

"This," the Kyuubi remarked calmly. "Is better than playing shogi alone."

"Fuck off!" he snarled back at the Kyuubi.

"Naruto!" Aoba remarked quickly. Naruto widened his eyes for a moment, before turning his eyes down.

"Sorry," he whispered.

Aoba's eyes narrowed. "You don't really mean it."

Naruto chuckled. "Seems I gave that away, I suppose," he exhaled. His blue eyes locked on with Aoba's dark ones. "So? We're going to the psychiatric help?"

"No," Aoba shook his head. "We're going to take our mission, and forget this conversation ever happened."

Naruto frowned. "Shouldn't you be questioning my judgment or something?"

"You see," the Jounin remarked. "I do not know about the other teachers," he began, "but I take the trust of my students with extreme care. Do you believe you need help?"

The snort the dark haired boy gave back was all Aoba needed to shrug with his shoulders. "Then there's nothing I can do, except worsen your condition. Help must be _searched_, not forced. And half of the shinobi force in Konoha is composed of dysfunctional individuals to say the least…due to the war."

"So," Naruto slowly hazarded. "The Hokage tower?"

"Yes, let's go." And with a simple nod, the two sped off once more.

There was an awkward silence as they landed in front of the Hokage's tower, which didn't last as long as Naruto would have liked. He remembered just in time to do the gesture with his hand on his shoulder.

"Hey guys!" he exclaimed then.

"You're late," Sakura mumbled barely, before returning to stare away from him.

"Dickless," it was a single word, yet Naruto found himself smiling once more as he looked at Sai.

"Sai," he replied. "How are you today?"

"I heard," he remarked. "Cherry can actually hurt people. It's a surprise."

Sakura stood slightly apart, her hands behind her back and her gaze down. She flinched slightly at Sai's words, but said nothing else.

"Now," Naruto shook his head. "Let's talk about something else, all right?"

"The Chuunin exams," Sai quipped. "They are coming. Will we go and watch?"

Naruto frowned. "Chuunin exams? When?"

"In two weeks," the pale skinned boy said. "They are held in Konoha this year."

"Sensei?" Naruto turned to Aoba, who was barely standing aside to let his student mingle once more. "Will we be going?"

"Well, why don't you ask your team leader?" he remarked. "I was planning on increasing the trust part of the team a bit more, considering the recent events…so, think of me as an observer for the moment. You want to train? Ask your team leader. You want to do missions? Ask your team leader. I'll just be…watching you."

It was then that Sakura actually showed a spark of vitality, as she clenched her right fist in front of her and narrowed her gaze on Aoba. The Jounin merely smiled back. If everything went just as planned, he'd have them rebound from this in no time.

"Sakura?" Naruto looked at the pink haired kunoichi without even the barest trace of distaste.

It drove Sakura _mad_.

How could he just so calmly accept all that happened the day before, and just…forgive her? She should be happy, but even she knew the level of the mistake she had committed wasn't something that a mere 'sorry' would cut. She had expected him to attack her. She had believed he'd yell at her. He hadn't.

He had accepted her excuses and was looking at her calmly, as if it really didn't matter that she had tortured him and _**TAKEN OUT HIS EYE**_. She hadn't managed to sleep the night before. Her face had been a mess, and she had used quite some crude words on her parents too, when she had barreled back home still crying and in shock.

How could he…he couldn't be some sort of saint. He was Naruto, and if he actually did forgive her just like that…

Then what had he lived through till then to simply consider _torture_ nothing to sweat over?

She was _agonizing_ with every gaze that wasn't of hate that the boy sent in her direction.

She wasn't a masochist, but this…this just felt wrong on so many levels her neck hair was standing as she cold-sweated. Her throat parched as her eyes widened when Naruto assumed a puzzled frown. He should have been angry at her. Not puzzled, _puzzled was wrong_.

"Cherry?"

"Ah!" she exclaimed, jumping to the side as Sai had apparently moved extremely close to her face before whispering out her nickname.

"She's not brain dead," Sai stated firmly. "Nor is she rotting."

"Want do you think I am, a Zombie!?" Sakura snapped back with a nervous tick mark on her forehead.

"Your face does look—"

"_**SHANNARO**_!"

Sai was stumped on the ground in a small crater, as Sakura huffed and breathed to calm herself. As she did that, Naruto just chuckled.

Somehow, hearing Naruto laugh like that warmed Sakura's heart.

It felt so honest, that laughter.

They reached for the Mission Office, but the secretary redirected them towards the Hokage's private office as soon as she saw them coming. Aoba actually tensed slightly as they stepped inside, as they weren't alone.

Danzo Shimura was sitting on an armchair, placed against the wall to the right of the Hokage. Naruto's eyes looked with surprise to his private Kenjutsu teacher, before moving back to the Sandaime who seemed to sport an awfully serious face.

"We will be splitting your team up," the Hokage's words slashed through the air like a sword. Aoba stiffened in surprise. Sakura's gaze was wide-eyed, while Sai remained his usual impassible self outwardly. Naruto just watched. He watched in silence.

Aoba's gaze remained on the Hokage for only a second, before moving to Naruto and then back to the Sandaime, all the while using the Anbu sign code to make sure the 'NO' was pretty clear.

The Hokage looked at him puzzled, before turning to the team and then back at him. "I understood it was something everyone wanted?"

"No, Hokage-sama," Aoba said quickly, before the Yami of Shinobi could get even a word in.

Sure, he was probably going to die in his sleep one day because of this, but he had to make sure Naruto remained with his team, no matter what. It was the only way. "They have already processed the events and are all once more ready for their duty."

"In less than one day?" Hiruzen's eyes narrowed on Aoba. "Are you sure of your words, Aoba-san?"

"I'd wager my life on it," the Jounin remarked calmly.

The Hokage sighed, before stretching his back slightly as he stood up. He placed his hands behind his back as he began to walk by the side of his desk. Aoba could see a small conversation going on between the Kami and the Yami, at such a speed of signs and with such subtlety that it just seemed to him as if they had twitchy fingers, rather than secret messages, going on.

"Very well," the Sandaime acquiesced. "In that case, there is a mission I must entrust to you." Calmly, he collected a scroll and handed it over to Aoba. "It is a C-rank which must be completed and returned within two weeks."

The subtle implication was clear.

The end result was even worse.

If they did complete the mission, they'd end up in the Chuunin exams. If they didn't, the team would be disbanded and he'd probably become the only Jounin assigned to clean the bathrooms of the Hokage tower.

He twitched slightly as he nodded once.

"We'll be within the allotted time-span."

He read the mission's title once more; just to be sure he had done so correctly the first time.

_Retrieval and escort to Konohagakure of Monk Sora from the Fire Temple._

He turned to leave, gesturing for his team to follow him.

The fire temple wasn't more than two days away from the village. They could make it with ease, and probably the allotted time was only that: to prepare them later on for the Chuunin exams.

As they left and the doors closed, Hiruzen looked at Danzo with a disarming smile.

"It appears we were stonewalled."

Danzo breathed slowly. His only eye narrowed on Hiruzen.

"Why?"

"Because I hold little doubt the Root members looking over Sakura Haruno's family are there only because they enjoy the scent of bread," the Sandaime hissed back. "I just needed confirmation that you actually _wanted_ the three of them separated. Divide and conquer, huh, Danzo?"

"That was the only logical thing to do against Orochimaru, Hiruzen," Danzo quipped back.

"That is if Orochimaru is actually the culprit," the Sandaime argued back. "What would it take, I wonder, for Inoichi to successfully pass of as Aoba, seeing as he is the one who checks every Jounin once a year for potential psychological damage or plants?"

"Well," Danzo slowly stood up. "As pointless as our talk last night was then, I wonder…were we too hasty in excluding your so called 'allies' from the list?"

"I trust each of them implicitly," Hiruzen remarked.

"Oh, I'm sure," Danzo nodded. "Trust, however…that is not something you should give this lightly."

"You don't trust at all, do you?" the Sandaime sighed. "I have paperwork to do, Danzo."

"And I have moles to find," and with those parting words, the two parted ways.

**Author's notes**

**Naruto revealed Teuchi accident.**

**(Which he had previously said not to recall to Danzo, but **_**that**_** was a lie.)**

**Plans don't survive contact with the enemy. This chapter 'exemplifies' it. If a character says something doesn't mean it will do it or will end like it was told.**

**That said, I'd like to thank whoever placed this story on TvTropes and actually gave it its own page. So, a shoot-out to whoever is filling it currently, thanks! And if someone wishes to try and fan-draw the Team Thirteen Photo Picture, please do try! (Apparently, it is well liked)**

**I actually listen to the reviewers, which is why I changed the theme from Adventure General to Angst and Hurt/Comfort. The reason was that in the beginning, I had planned on doing something…simple? With a cut off Naruto who slowly would open up to people and become a fluff-most story.**

…

**Yeah, look how well that turned out to be.**

**Only a tiny, bitsy point I'd like to make: I don't actually enjoy 'angst-porn' or whatever. I enjoy writing about challenges of increasing difficulty that are overcome with strength of mind, will and what-not. It is more satisfying, as described by the Kyuubi, to sleep one day in a bed after a lifetime of jagged rocks. But that's my personal opinion, so…yeah, I read you, I understand you, but then again…everyone has his own cup of tea, right?**

**PS: 497 followers, it's more than what I had for any other story.**

**Thanks again for reading guys, and as always Shadenight123-dot-blogspot-dot-it in case someone wishes to read me talk about what I'm doing while writing away fanfics.**


	17. The Choice That Never Was

Introverted

Chapter Seventeen

Leaving Konoha behind was easy. As the walls and the giant double doors of the Village Hidden beneath the Leafs disappeared beyond the horizon, Naruto's eyes travelled once more to his sensei's back. He couldn't understand why the Hokage had wanted to split the team, but mostly, he couldn't understand why his sensei had gone against it.

The words of the Sandaime eerily crept up his mind as he recalled the ease with which he had dropped the explosive tag of the news. Someone in the team didn't want to be there. He supposed it could have been Sakura, but then again she too had seemed relieved when their sensei had stonewalled the Hokage.

To stonewall the leader of Konoha…he was starting to respect Aoba-sensei more and more.

The Kyuubi remained quiet throughout their journey, even as they camped for the night all around a small fire that had been lit within a hole in the ground, and then covered by clay to make it seem like a make-shift oven. In that way neither light nor smoke would be visible, but the heat would still be there.

"We're getting to the chilly nights of September," Aoba remarked calmly. "Cover yourself when you sleep, but not too much. If you sweat during the night you'll catch something in the morning."

"Yes, sensei," Naruto replied. Sakura nodded while Sai simply raised an eyebrow, as if he hadn't expected the teacher to specify something that obvious.

"Now, water? Food? Everything checks out?"

"You don't have to baby us, sensei," Sakura huffed. "We have everything. You told us to keep a backpack always ready, right?"

Aoba smiled slightly. "That I did," he chuckled. "Well done, all of you," he added wistfully. "I'll take the last watch. Naruto, you can have the first one. Sakura will take the second and Sai the third one."

Naruto nodded, before slowly making his way to the nearest tree and starting to climb up on it. He could feel the slight breeze ruffle his hair, as he stood firmly atop one of the medium branches. He slowed down his breathing and kept his eyes firmly settled away from the night sky and the moon.

It wasn't cloudy, and while the spectacle of the stars would surely be beautiful, he couldn't risk losing his eyes' night adaptation. His gaze remained fixed between the tree branches and the patches of darkness that surrounded their camp, and in the silence of the night he licked his lips slightly.

The first shift in the guard was always the easiest one, as long as the day before the shinobi hadn't marched for a long while. The worst one wasn't actually the middle or the nearly last, but precisely the last one. Since one didn't go to sleep afterwards, it implied remaining awake the longest out of all the shinobi in the group. Their sensei wasn't even probably sleeping, but rather just feigning it and keeping himself ready at a moment's notice.

He heard the soft rustling of leaves the next second, and his eyes moved to the source of the noise. Sai had quietly appeared right next to him on the branch, his gaze fixed on him.

"Dickless," he whispered. "We need to talk."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, before nodding. "Sure," he murmured back. "About what?"

"Us," he remarked. Naruto blinked once. He slowly scuttled a bit further away from Sai.

"Ehm…listen, Sai, while I'm sure we're pretty good teammates…I don't—"

"Dickless," Sai deadpanned. "Us as team." He specified a moment later.

Naruto blinked again. Then he chuckled lightly. "Ah, I see," he smiled slowly. "Well, what about…us?"

"You trust Cherry again?" Sai asked calmly, his eyes boring into his own.

"Well, yeah, why not?" Naruto said back. He flinched as Sai's lips mouthed, rather than outright spoke, the single word.

"Liar."

"Ehi now," Naruto muttered. "That's not…"

He sighed. "Maybe it is," he acquiesced. "But…it's difficult to discuss."

"Dickless," Sai cut in. "I know you're a limp dick," the raven haired boy nodded to himself. "But using impotency as an excuse is bad."

"Ehi!" he looked back heatedly at Sai, but his throat could not hold the chuckle. "He's perfectly fine!"

"He?" Sai cocked his head to the side. "Did you name it too?"

"W-What type of discussion is this!?" he stammered out.

"We're talking about dicks and dickheads, right?" Sai remarked, scrunching his face in confusion. "Or are we talking about something else?"

"N-No, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't dreaming all of this," Naruto shook his head. "A discussion on dicks. Is there something crasser you want to talk about? You know, just to leave me to my post utterly disgusted."

Sai remained quiet for a moment, and Naruto dreaded the pale skinned boy was actually thinking about it, when he finally blurted out.

"Is this…friendly banter?"

To that question, Naruto's eyes widened imperceptibly for a second. He looked embarrassingly to the side, before finally nodding. "I think so."

"It's nice," Sai quipped in his own two words. "Feels…warm."

"Don't fall for me though," Naruto replied. "I'm not…well, on the other side of Konoha."

Sai raised an eyebrow. "I'm not falling for you. I'm standing on a branch, I think," he looked at his feet, firmly glued with chakra to the branch. "And you don't live far from me."

"Uh? Really?" Naruto remarked. "Where do you live?"

"Right in front of your apartment," Sai deadpanned.

"Ah," Naruto actually looked sad. "Sorry I didn't realize it. We could have gone home together."

Sai scuttled a bit further away from Naruto. "Are you sure you're not gay, Dickless?"

The Jinchuuriki stammered and stuttered as he flailed his arms around. "N-No! I mean argh! No more sappy talks at night, deal?"

"Deal," Sai nodded.

"What are you two talking about?" Sakura's voice was filled with uncertainty, as she slowly climbed her way on the nearby branch, before sitting down on it and letting her legs swerve gently in the air.

Before Naruto could answer, Sai took the cue.

"Dicks."

Sakura's mouth remained half-open for a moment, in a sort of perfect O, until she finally closed her eyes and breathed calmly. "Naruto? I'll ignore Sai."

"Well," Naruto chuckled nervously. He gave a look at the slightly downcast Sai…what was it with the boy and dicks? "We were kind of making friendly banter."

"On… On that?" Sakura's face showed a slight blush. "Is…Is that some sort of guy-only talk?"

"We were talking about Cherries too," Sai added.

It was a moment. In that single instant, Naruto's brain thought 'wait, isn't Cherry a second-term for…' and Sakura's eyes widened before her hands clenched into fists.

Sai was completely oblivious, at least until Sakura's fist slammed him against the tree bark to the scream of "PERVERT!"

Then she turned on Naruto, still breathing loudly. He flinched, instantaneously bringing both arms to cover his face. No hit, however, came. He opened slightly his right eye, and then his left. Sakura was there, breathing deeply.

"You were talking about me, right?" she whispered then.

"Yeah," he nodded slowly. Sakura exhaled loudly.

"Really," she shook her head as she helped Sai back on the branch. "You could have just said that. Sai…you need to talk to people without all those…double meanings."

Sai for his part just numbly nodded.

"So, what about me?" Sakura ended up sitting on the same branch as Naruto and Sai, standing in the middle between the two. "You weren't talking of peeking on me, right?"

"Nah, we'd never do that, Sakura," Naruto answered.

"There's not much to see anyway, Cherry," Sai answered calmly. Sakura looked at Sai again.

"Sai? You want your paintbrushes where the sun doesn't shine?"

Naruto's eyes looked with shock from the pink-haired girl to his teammate and back. Sai was standing there, speechless. It was only a moment.

"I didn't know you were kinky…Kinky Cherry, seems like a…"

Sakura's forehead sported a tick mark. "Sai, why don't you go to bed? You've got your watch turn coming up soon…doing it with broken bones isn't smart," she finally amended.

"Yes, Kin—" he didn't finish, as Sakura simply slammed him out of the tree. Sai of course deadened the fall by flipping in mid-air and landing softly on his legs, but that did effectively quiet him down.

"He didn't mean anything," Naruto said after a few seconds of watching Sai getting into his sleeping bag. "You know how he is…"

"Completely tactless?" Sakura retorted. "Yeah, I know." She sighed, her eyes moving upwards to the sky. "Hey, Naruto?" she whispered. "What were you talking about? Really this time…"

"Us," he answered with a light shrug. He watched as Sakura's face assumed a nice red tint, before he finally added. "As a team." There was a small smile on his lips now, as Sakura's own eyes narrowed to fissures.

"You did it on purpose," she accused him. "Sai is rubbing off on you."

"Kinky," Sai's word came out of his mouth before he could stop them. Sakura now reached the color of ripe tomatoes, as a small dribble of blood fell down her nose. "Ah, well, the mental image will scar me forever," he added shuddering.

Sakura remained unresponsive for a moment. Then she smiled. "Naruto-kun," she whispered sultrily. "Speak of this with anyone, and I swear I will make you pay for it in hell," and then, quickly and quietly, she hugged him tightly.

Naruto's eyes widened as he felt the soft arms surround his neck, and her hands clasp his hair gently as she brought his face down on her shoulder. She held him there for a moment, before gently whispering.

"There," she muttered then, letting go of the hug. "Now we're even." And then she jumped down, leaving a red faced and blood dribbling Naruto to stand watch.

"Let it be said," he muttered to no-one in particular, "that this team is awesome."

The Kyuubi just snorted, but remained peacefully quiet. His ears flexed slightly, as his nose…his nose twitched.

"Uh," the Nine-Tails growled slightly. "Oh," he finally muttered. "Ah…so that's…that's how it is," the wicked grin of the Kyuubi spread all over the demon fox's face. "Very well," he acquiesced. "Very, _very_ well."

The Monastery of the land of fire was a massive compound of stone, wood and giant doors. Monks moved around with pieces of parchment or giant staffs, wearing loose robes and holding rosaries. They had probably arrived during the morning prayers, and as words rose to the air in prayer, the Kyuubi's snorts echoed louder.

Aoba-sensei gestured for them to wait until the prayers were done, and as the twin doors opened up and the monks began to enter the temple again, he neared what looked like the head monk. A bald man with dark eyes and very thick eyebrows looked at them coming closer, his clothes no different than those of the other monks, except perhaps for a sash with the symbol of the land of fire on his waist.

Next to him stood a young boy, with his right arm covered by thick gauze and secured, as if he had broken it. He had shoulder-length, dull bluish-grey hair in an asymmetrical style with a single lock falling into his face, and brown eyes. Naruto locked eyes with the boy for a moment.

He felt his stomach contract as he gritted his teeth. There was a sharp spike of pain for barely an instant, before the smooth and silky voice of the Kyuubi reached his ears.

"So there it went, I thought I lacked something somewhere," he remarked. Naruto frowned. What went where?

"Something of mine, once more stolen by your race," the Kyuubi snarled. "Still I wonder…no, you wouldn't, would you?"

He flexed his right leg slightly, tapping his foot on the ground as the Head Monk and his sensei spoke to one another in hushed tones.

"The boy has a piece of me within himself," the Kyuubi hissed. "Not all of it, but certainly some."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Look at his arm," Kurama added. "It's concentrated there. It's tiny; the amount of power…but it's there. And it calls to me. It begs me. But I know you. You wouldn't reunite us, would you? Not if the cost were to be the boy's life. Of course this doesn't mean you might not be pressed to eventually…"

"And this here is Naruto," Sakura's voice spoke calmly as she presented the boy to him. "He's usually with his head between the clouds."

"Hello," Sora spoke softly, his eyes hardening to steel as their gazes met briefly. The monk didn't even try and bring up his left hand for a handshake, but stiffly bowed slightly. Naruto did the same thing.

"Ah, hello," he replied. "What happened with the arm?" he asked then, wincing at his own tact.

"Nothing that concerns you, shinobi," Sora hissed out with enough venom to actually make the word 'Shinobi' sound like an insult.

"Sorry," Naruto hastily said.

"Well, we should be going," Aoba said walking back to the team plus the extra man. "We have a long way to go."

Naruto looked at Sora merely nodding stiffly towards the head monk, before slowly turning and starting to walk behind their sensei. He frowned, but said nothing.

"So," Sakura began to make idle conversation along the road. "What is it like to be a monk?"

Sora looked at her sharply. "What is it like to have pink hair? Do you dye it or what?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes, clenching her right fist. "Y-You! I was trying to be polite!"

"I don't want to waste my breath," he remarked. "Not with Shinobi. Not with murderers."

"She hasn't killed anyone yet," Naruto spoke calmly. "Actually…I'm the only one who has, I think, except sensei," his cerulean orbs locked with those of the boy. "So don't insult Sakura."

"She chose the profession," the monk hissed back. "She chose to become a murderer."

"Not all shinobi are tasked with assassination missions," Aoba remarked from his spot. "Many just take care to knock out their enemies, and usually a lot become Chuunin because of age and end up at a desk job," the Jounin remarked. "The orders to kill are largely reserved to Jounin in Konoha."

"This doesn't change anything," Sora remarked once more. "She might end up killing someone anyway."

"What is it with you and shinobi?" Naruto exhaled. "What did they do?"

"They killed my father, that's what your people did," he retorted angrily, shaking his head as he sped up. "And now you want me back? What am I, a box to be delivered?"

"We could arrange that," Sai said in monotone. "We might need to sever a limb or two however," the pale skinned boy smiled. "I'm pretty good with my Tanto."

The boy monk remained quiet after that. As they camped for the night, Sora took his place against the bark of a tree, while Sai went for the first watch. Naruto sat down near Sora, speaking up before the boy decided to snap at him again.

"I know," he whispered. "I know what you're hiding."

The monk widened his eyes for a moment, before whispering. "You? You're the one with…with the thing?"

Naruto nodded, as his eyes went to where Aoba was sleeping. Sakura too had lain down in her own bag, but he couldn't be sure the girl was actually sleeping or not…neither could he think the same of their sensei.

Sai was probably eavesdropping, as he did usually.

"Why aren't you…" Sora murmured, before shaking his head. "I don't believe you."

"Hey, want to see the seal?" he retorted hotly. "I just…I mean, I wanted to know if…"

"If what?" Sora hissed. "If I'm some sort of monster who has to be chained against a wall? If I need daily baths in holy water to keep the beast at bay?" he snarled the last part, as Naruto's keen ears heard the slight snapping of fabric. The boy tensed and then hurriedly covered his right hand. "I don't want your pity. I don't need your words. I don't even care what you do as long as you stay out of my way."

"But…"

"I'll be behind the bushes for a while," Sora remarked hotly as he stood up and left. Naruto just looked at the retreating back of the boy and then sighed. He had just wanted to try and tell him…something. He hadn't gone that far with his thoughts. He supposed they might have found a common ground somewhere to talk of. Like the weather, or the mountain, or the hills, or the gates.

Wait.

The gates?

His eyes scrunched for a moment, as he watched the form of a gate slowly rise.

"Sai," Naruto whispered. "Are you seeing this?" Sai was already down, clapping his hands as he took on position behind the shade of a nearby tree while leaving behind a wooden substitution of himself up on the branch.

He did the same, as well as Sakura and his sensei.

Not a second too soon did they manage to reach the shadows, that earthen spikes burst forth from the very ground, skewering the entire camp and exploding into lethal shrapnel of rocks. The flying bits of dirt obscured the view surrounding the now broken terrain, as the glint of metal came close to where Naruto's head had been a moment before. The boy had ducked by instinct, letting the kunai flash and cut a slight wound on the upper side of his scalp.

Thankfully he had his hard head to absorb the blow, but as blood began to copiously flow down his face, he barely managed to stem the flow with his forehead protector as he began to run away from the scene.

This seemed just like a repeat of the Avalanche mission.

Hadn't he practically been running away there too?

_"You're just a coward! You left the girl and ran, isn't it? That's how you survived! By running away!"_ Sasuke's words reached his ears, making him grit his teeth and clench his right hand in a fist. He barely avoided a hail of needles, which all seemed to glint dangerously in the moonlight.

The weapons weren't aimed at him specifically, but seemed to simply be covering an ample area around them. Where was the rest of his team? What level was the enemy if they couldn't even sense them preparing the stage? He ducked down just in time to avoid a steel-looking staff from impacting against his face. He recoiled from the human figure, taking out his Tanto and standing ready to jump or roll to the side.

The enemy ninja was a female with long dark brown hair. She was wearing a strange one piece dress of beige and black, and her blue eyes shown of a cruelty unlike any others.

"It's always like this," the Kyuubi whispered in his ears as the Kunoichi instead attacked. He jumped to the side, just as Kurama kept on talking. "They leave the stragglers to me. I wonder if Fuka will leave someone behind for me to have fun with, I don't think I'm asking for much right? Just one enemy to try and play chess against or someone with some brain smarts…and there he goes right in the tr—"

He stilled and pushed forward, rather than complete his movement that would send him to safety behind a tree bark. The next moment the bark detonated, as a volley of fire and metal rained down on the spot he would have supposedly 'ducked' the explosion.

"Interesting," the kunoichi spoke for the first time with her own voice, licking her lips. "How did you know?"

Tension is broken when one speaks to another. Naruto didn't speak.

He eyed his surroundings warily, taking advantage of those small seconds before dropping down on all fours. He avoided a giant shuriken that had been flung from _somewhere_, and then growled slightly as he charged ahead. It was then that he realized there had been steel wires all in front of the kunoichi. The moment he ended up entangled, he knew his life was done for.

The sharp stone cane morphed into a sort of lance, as the kunoichi began to press the tip against his heart.

"Well," the woman sultrily said. "I'll make it quick."

He bit down on his lips as he felt the tension spasm his throat in fear. He was going to die there. He was going to die like that, trapped by an enemy kunoichi who had no reason to come after them…or maybe they had. He didn't know. He couldn't know.

"Let. Him. Go!" a familiar voice screamed to the side of the torn apart meadow, as a wounded Sakura charged all the way through with a kunai in her hands. The woman didn't even flinch as she simply removed the spear from Naruto's breast…and then _launched_ it straight against Sakura's stomach.

The tip pierced through the girl's stomach in an instant.

Blood gushed out, crimson and fluid.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock. Naruto's own seemed to freeze over the moment. "Charging ahead?" the woman shook her head slowly. "Without backup? That's…stupid."

Sakura fell on her knees.

Her hands went to the midsection of the lance that was closest to her wound. She felt pain beyond any other type. Was this what Naruto had felt when she had stabbed him? Was this…was this pain what Ino had felt before dying? Was this pain…was this pain…

Breathing hurt. The wound hurt. Pain was her every being as she couldn't believe she felt this weak and tired. It was only a wound. Naruto had taken it.

Naruto had been hit in the hand. She had been literally pierced side to side. She wasn't going to survive this. There was no way she was going to survive this. She was going to die in the middle of nowhere without having ever kissed anyone, or having done anything else.

She was going to die without having had children with Sasuke or without having found out if she actually had been forgiven by Naruto or not. She was going to die there. She was going to…

The Kunoichi brought up another stone-formed cane and walked leisurely towards Sakura. Then…as Naruto watched, she slammed the side of her cane against the girl's head.

Sakura fell on the ground with a dull thud.

Nothing else happened.

_Nothing else_.

_**Nothing**_. _**Else**_.

There was no puff of smoke. No substitution technique happened. No 'this is a Genjutsu, I'm alive!' nothing…Sakura was…she was…

"Well, returning to us," the woman replied with a bored tone, as if killing his teammate didn't mean anything to her.

"Want to kill her?" the Kyuubi smiled from within him. "Want to make her suffer? I have a deal."

"W…What do you want?" Naruto snarled back, tears in his eyes as he watched the Kyuubi from behind his cage.

"I want…Sora. Consume him. Consume what is mine by right. Consume his malice and give it upon me…do that, and I will grant you my powers for the time being," the Kyuubi smiled. "But once taken, a pact with the devil is never something easy to live with, Naruto."

He stammered. He closed his eyes. He could see the woman near him again.

"You knew of them," he finally acquiesced, looking at the Kyuubi. "You knew they were setting a trap for us!"

"Of course I knew!" the nine-tails remarked. "I told you, didn't I? I am the product of _EVERY_ single act of malice, thought or done otherwise. Whether I choose to tell you about them or not is not something you can change. I give unto you what I desire to give, and keep silent when it fits my needs. What, you thought we were some sort of friends, where we looked out to one another?"

Naruto screamed to the sky of his sewer-like mind as he brought both hands to his face. "You let Sakura die!"

"But Naruto! You wouldn't have said anything anyway!" the Kyuubi gleefully replied. "You didn't with Ino! You wouldn't have with Sakura either!"

And Naruto locked eyes with the Kyuubi again, and in that single exchange…the Kyuubi smiled and Naruto understood that…

That the fox was right. Hadn't he always been right? He might have tried something, but he wouldn't have told. He would have kept quiet. He wouldn't have said anything about the Kyuubi…because then, they would have taken him away from his team, right? They would have been afraid of him, influenced by the Kyuubi and all.

He was the problem.

From the very beginning…

He…

"I…I accept," he whispered.

Fuen had watched the boy stop moving and fighting back with disinterest. She wasn't going to waste any more time on this. She twirled her staff, preparing to strike…

When she was pulverized to minuscule amounts of _nothing_.

Scorching hot fire burned and melted off the steel cables that held Naruto still, as pure bright chakra flared in the sky. The very ground seemed to be lit with renewed intensity, as blades of grass grew from the ground as if centuries had passed. The trees reached for the skies, as Naruto took a step forward numbly.

_Kill kill kill._

_Murder._

_Slaughter._

_My daughter!_

_You whore!_

_Die sick fuck!_

_Kill them all!_

_Your husband is ugly, you bitch!_

_Slice the neck and move!_

_Pour the oil on his head!_

_Bastard child, I'll teach you to be late again!_

_Tear him apart bro!_

_You need to pay with your body, ma'am…this isn't enough!_

_Your daughter will fetch a nice price._

_Evil, darkness, blood, gore, death and decay. Malice pure and unbridled._

_So why was the World happy to see him again?_

Naruto fell on the ground near Sakura, the flames of white chakra leaving him as he gently touched the girl's face. Without the woman, the rock spear had disappeared, leaving behind a bleeding wound that would have killed the girl in seconds…if it had still been bleeding.

"I'm…" he croaked out, tears in his eyes as he slowly crawled near the dead kunoichi. "I'm sorry, Sakura."

And then he closed his eyes.

He opened them again to pitch black darkness. He could hear the sound of paws slamming against the ground, as well as the familiar voice of Sai muttering something. A few seconds later, and the black darkness revealed itself to be ink, as the conjured lion fell apart to drop him against a tree branch.

Sai held his right hand firmly fixed in the 'silence' gesture, before pointing towards Sora who was looking vividly shaken and afraid, hanging from an upper branch.

Naruto stared at Sai dumbly. Was this…he turned his gaze around frantically. Where was Sakura?

Sai seemed to have understood his silent query, because he pointed to a branch right behind them. His heart froze as he literally widened his eyes beyond norm to stare at the pink-haired girl, with a glaring hole in her uniform's chest piece, give him back an awry glance. She probably believed his gaze transfixed to her skin that showed from the hole, because the next instant her arms went up in a cross position in front of it.

"H…" Sai's hand slammed against his mouth quickly, and once more the pale skinned boy reiterated the _silence_. He pointed to the direction of Konoha. Naruto nodded back. They began their silent dash through the trees, taking turns in carrying Sora across.

It was only as Naruto finally breathed in relief after two hours of uninterrupted running that he finally realized what the nagging sensation in the back of his brain was.

"Sai," he whispered. The pale skinned boy didn't glare at him, so he supposed they were outside the danger zone. "Where is sensei?"

"Ah!" Sakura gasped too, nearly missing her next step as her hands flew to her mouth. He frowned and turned around just in time to watch the pink-haired girl wipe away her tears.

"M.I.A," Sai remarked calmly.

"Missing in Action?" Naruto was puzzled. Maybe their sensei had simply fought them off, and had yet to rejoin them. Aoba-sensei wouldn't have died from something like this. He was a Jounin. There was no way a Jounin was meant to die in a C-rank mission. Jounins were tough.

They could survive nearly anything.

And this was a C-rank, wasn't it?

"I am waiting," the Kyuubi remarked calmly. Naruto's eyes widened as he realized he had a different type of problem to solve. "Consume what is rightfully mine."

How was the Kyuubi expecting that? He wasn't a giant fox. There was no way he could actually eat Sora or 'consume' him. And he doubted he'd be able to eat the…

Oh, no, the fox didn't want that right? There was no way…

"Feast through his belly to his chakra, feed upon the energies that are mine by right," yes, it was. The Kyuubi wanted him to literally _eat_ Sora.

There was no way he was going to do that.

"You would break your promise with me?" the Kyuubi asked calmly, his voice sleek and frozen as ice. Somehow, that thought was even worse. The Kyuubi hadn't actively been trying to escape; at least…he had been pretty civil and helpful. If not for his way of timing things, to make him feel like dirt…

"Guys," he finally acquiesced. He knew what he had to do. It was the only way. "I can talk with the Kyuubi. He wants me to eat Sora." Sai didn't even flinch as he held the monk on his back.

Sakura just muttered a 'huh?' from behind him.

"Dickless," Sai quipped in. "Using the Nine-Tails as an excuse to enact revenge is not the correct way of approach." The pale skinned boy then turned his right eye towards him. "The objective is not at fault. Whoever assigned the mission is."

He bit his lips. How could he convince them without revealing he had actually let Ino die because he didn't trust anyone else with the 'mind-reading' information of the Kyuubi?

"Futile, isn't it?" the Kyuubi remarked dryly. "Once you dig your own tomb, you can but lie in it yourself."

"Aoba-sensei will be fine, Naruto," Sakura said then, her voice slightly cracking. "He was behind me. He told me to run, to follow you and Sai. Sai went for Sora, and Aoba-sensei remained behind to catch the enemy's attention. He'll be fine."

He heard the whispered words that followed however, and those did nothing to soothe his nerves.

"He has to be."

And in the silence, they stretched their running until they collapsed a few hours of travel away from Konoha.

"A patrol should pass by any moment," Sai remarked then. "This was the meeting point with sensei if we were lost. Two hours rest. If he doesn't show, we have to go."

Naruto nodded numbly, as he watched Sakura drop down Sora from her back. The monk seemed slightly embarrassed at having been carried by a girl, but remained quiet as they lay there in silence all four of them.

"Why were they hunting you?" Sakura asked then, looking at the monk. "They weren't after us…but you."

"I…" the monk gritted his teeth. "I've got some of the Kyuubi chakra inside of me."

Sakura's eyes widened, before turning to Naruto who simply nodded back. "The Kyuubi confirms it…he's pretty pissed about it, actually."

"If he wants it back, he just has to ask," Sora snapped at Naruto. "It brought me nothing but misery. See this?" he gestured at his right arm. The bandage had gone off and it now showed a slightly red and furred limb, which seemed more like the claw of a feral animal than an actual hand. "The more I'm angry the more it grows horrible."

"Malice feeds me," the Kyuubi commented off-handedly. "He should be thankful it did not devour him whole."

"I…I lost myself to anger once," he acquiesced. "Over such a stupid thing too…the older students, they just harassed me a bit and I yelled at them…" he shook his head. "It took the head monk to stop me. I had…I had killed ten monks in training and three elder monks before he managed to do that," he brought his left hand to his face. "I was treated no better than a monster after that."

"Who placed the chakra into you?" Naruto asked them slowly.

"My father," Sora answered. "He…he wished to help Konoha. He thought that the Hokage would be favorable for it, but the seal was…is, too weak. I can't control myself. If I lose myself to anger…then I just…go on a rampage." His breath hitched. "And…and I don't know why they were looking for me. The head monk just told me the Hokage wanted me back in Konoha for some reason."

It was Sai who broke the silence. "There was an attempt at the Jinchuuriki's life in Konoha recently," he spoke calmly. "Whoever did this might be looking for the Kyuubi. You probably are a target too."

Naruto remained silent as he remembered the way 'Aoba' had told him of the test. He didn't add his own words to Sai's tale. He just kept his senses stretched, trying to grasp if they were being followed or not. He couldn't stop and think about Sora's past similar and yet different from his own, because at the moment he was still beneath the effects of adrenaline. The tension was palpable in the air however, as well as the guilt that underlay every single gaze of Sakura towards Naruto.

There was also something else behind the guilt. Curiosity probably, since the girl had been practically sure she was going to die back there…and yet she hadn't. She had felt the cold grasp of death linger and then leave, but she couldn't understand _how_. Even the skin where she had been hit was new, unblemished, unscarred.

"More than a target," the Kyuubi whispered in Naruto's ears. Soothingly gentle and yet extremely gleeful as it spoke. "But a bomb ready to explode."

Naruto frowned. He didn't understand. What was the Kyuubi speaking of?

"I think you will enjoy the _ending_ of this tale, for it is already written," the nine-tailed fox said once more. Naruto didn't understand, but he bit his tongue and waited with the others for the two hours required.

Nobody came.

Naruto's heart constricted as if heavy steel wire had been serrating against it, while Sakura began to sniffle softly as they started to walk once more towards Konoha. They stood defeated. Their sensei hadn't come. For all purposes…

Aoba Yamashiro was dead. Killed in Action. He had probably held off the rest of the ambushers to give them time to escape. He had sacrificed himself for the team.

Somehow, that made everything worse. If only they had trained more. If only they had been stronger…

And yet, it hadn't mattered in the end.

When was it going to matter then? How many more deaths were they supposed to live through?

Naruto was just thankful for Sakura's miraculous healing streak —he had little doubt on who had provided it, but he was too tired to even begin pondering the _why_. If the Kyuubi actually had a heart…then he didn't want to know anymore, because it would mean that the demon fox had been telling the truth all along about not only the sage, but his very purpose.

And if he was telling the truth, then Naruto was actually responsible for every single death that happened in the world because of anger, or hatred…He was responsible for Ino's death, but also for Aoba's and those of the civilians…

He was responsible…and he was too weak to do something about it.

They saw the gates nearing, opening up as the sun was starting to shine high in the sky. They had run for the entire night, and barely caught their breaths. They were tired, disheveled, bloodied and limping as they began to pass through the gates.

It was then that a shadow dashed out of the nearby ground and slammed Sora away from the rest of the group, pushing the boy monk against a tree trunk. The figure took only a moment to pronounce two single words, bringing his right hand straight against Sora's stomach, the fingers lit with small flames of blue chakra.

"_Gogyō Kaiin_." Before disappearing in the ground a second later.

Bewildered, everyone watched as the monk slowly but surely began his transformation as vile and putrid chakra poured out of his very skin and blood, burning the tree Sora had been flung across to ashes. It was then that the gate guards came outside.

"Isn't that team Thirteen?" Naruto heard them exclaim. "What the hell is that?!"

He watched with morbid fascination as Sora fell down on four limbs, tails slowly forming on his back as pure crimson chakra tinged itself dark and black from the burning blood that was consumed by it.

"The story is at its end," the Kyuubi said simply. "Consume him…or _die_." Just as he said that last word, the beast attacked. Naruto had barely the time to bring up both of his arms in a cross guard, when the creature slammed against him and literally flung him backwards. He could hear his bones break, blood gushing out of his punctured lungs as the attack had connected with his chest and torn through him.

Claw-like appendages birthed from the sick chakra cloak slashed in the air in the same spot he would have been a moment longer, if an Anbu masked shinobi hadn't appeared to Shunshin him away.

"Medic!" the Anbu barked out the order as he dropped Naruto on the rooftop, before disappearing once more into thin air.

_It hurts._

He felt something stir within him, memories?

_Dad? Where are we going?_

_Someplace safe._

_Liar._

_Oh? And why would I lie to you, Sora?_

_Because I'm a monster, right?_

_You're not a monster._

Naruto watched as the kunais flung by a team of three Anbu were deviated by the chakra cloak of the beast. He watched as the dark claws of chakra tore through the closest building, before bringing back two Chuunin-dressed shinobi and slamming them one against the other. Their bones broke with sickening crunches that Naruto could hear from his own spot.

His breathing grew ragged as his heart sped up a few beats. He looked at the white robes of the Hokage coming closer at incredible speed. "This is your last chance," the Kyuubi whispered. Sora's monster form turned its head towards Sai, who had been penning ink lions to distract him, while Sakura was trying to pelt the thing with Shurikens.

"What stays your hand, Naruto?" the Kyuubi remarked. "The fact that he is like you? Well, you can't do anything to stop him now. His seal is disappearing…" Naruto watched as Sora seemed to be expanding.

"You know —you should listen to me and consume him now," the fox remarked dryly. "This is your last chance to listen to me, Naruto. You should trust me."

He shook his head, gritting his teeth.

Somehow, he imagined the Kyuubi to be smiling.

"Don't say I hadn't warned you…" and then, Sora grew to the point where he looked more like a round type of ball than a four-limbed fox. It was just as the fifth tail was about to appear, that cracks of pure red appeared on the surface of the boy.

"In the end," the Kyuubi remarked calmly. "You will pay the price." The fox sighed.

"Wh—"

"The price for not listening."

And Sora _screamed_.

_It hurts! Make it stop!_

_Help me!_

Red scalding hot chakra poured out from the holes and the cracks of the creature that once was Sora, slamming against the ground and burning to a crisp the nearby buildings. Anbu had relocated his teammates, but what truly frightened him was the giant Earth Dragon created by the Hokage engulfing the pseudo-Jinchuuriki being ripped apart from the strength of the _chakra itself_.

And then Naruto watched as the torrent of crimson chakra twirled in the air, like a snake waiting to strike…before soaring through the sky and hitting him straight in the stomach.

Naruto screamed as the crimson chakra reunited with the Kyuubi.

"As I was saying," the Kyuubi sweetly whispered. "Consuming him would have avoided all this," he remarked. "Who knows, had you eaten him before leaving the temple, before meeting the enemy…maybe Aoba would still be alive?"

Naruto fell with his back against the rooftop, breathing hard as he began to cough and sputter out blood. He heard the soft approaching of footsteps, and then saw with the corner of his eyes the white robes of the Hokage.

"Naruto?"

"I'm pathetic," he acquiesced, closing his eyes. "I'm…I'm really pathetic, Jiji," he whispered once more. "Aren't I?"

"What happened here wasn't your fault," the Hokage remarked. "It was mine."

Naruto's eyes snapped open a moment later. Hiruzen took a step back, as the eyes that looked back at him no longer held the deeply blue cerulean color that made Naruto recognizable, but a dark red tint with a feral slit. His eyes…

His eyes were those of the Kyuubi, and they stared with their crimson hatred at him for a moment more, before they slowly returned to normal.

"What do you mean…Hokage-sama?"

And Hiruzen took a deep breath. "Shouldn't we discuss this somewhere else? Like a hospital for yourself?"

"I want my team," he replied calmly. "I'm not going anywhere unless they're with me."

"Good thing they've been brought to the hospital then," the Sandaime sighed. "Let's go, Naruto."

And the boy did just that, as he slowly stood up and followed the Sandaime.

"Using them as bait to lure out Orochimaru's lackeys worked," the Kyuubi whispered in Naruto's ears as the boy looked at the back of the Hokage with ill-conceived hatred. "He didn't expect us taking Naruto out on a C-rank immediately. Aoba's loss was within parameters, and Kakashi will foster this team to the Chuunin exams then," the nine-tailed fox added slowly, glee filling his voice. "As long as everything works…then Orochimaru will be brought down in due time."

The Kyuubi stopped talking then, merely taking time to look around the walls of the cage he was in. He could _see_ the cracks already. When the events finally would catch up with his jailor, when he would finally realize just what had happened…then he was sure they would crack even more.

"You are the one pathetic," a female voice whispered to Kurama's ears from the corner of his jail. "Truly pathetic. Lying to a child..."

"Shut up," he snarled back. "This could have been avoided. You should have just let me go, rather than sealing me again! I told you this would happen, but did you listen? No! So shut up and suffer the consequences of your actions!"

"You can't pin all of this on me! Your power was too great to let go uncontrolled!"

"Live with that excuse for as long as you like, but it will change _nothing_! Your race will pay the price of Hubris, and I will laugh upon the broken bones of your descendants! You are a _blight_ left unchecked long enough!"

The female voice stopped talking then, and the Kyuubi growled one last time in the direction of the wall, before finally turning his attention back to the shogi board.

He removed a piece from his enemy's position.

There still were a few, but in the end…they would all disappear, one by one.

He'd make sure of that, and he'd make sure it would happen only when it would hurt the most.

**Author's notes**

…

**(Goes and hide) as always shadenight123-dot-blogspot-dot-it. Furthermore, thanks to all reviewers! (Even those who will scream bloody murder for having killed Aoba. Though remember children…**_**speaking**_** and **_**doing**_** are different things)**

**And this is chapter 17. Supposed to be unlucky, right?**


	18. The Aftermath of Words

Introverted

Chapter Eighteen

The hospital staff seemed wary with him, but the murderous gaze of the Hokage could do miracles. He found himself in the same room as his teammates, and suddenly a pink crying blur was hugging him for dear life.

"You're alive!" Sakura exclaimed between tears. "W-When I saw the… the creature attacking you, I thought with all that blood…"

"Dickless can't die," Sai remarked calmly. "He has to be lucky _somewhere_, right?"

"Glad to see you too, Sai," Naruto sighed back. Sakura stopped the hug a moment later with a small 'eep' noise, as she realized the Hokage was in the room together with them.

The Sandaime just chuckled lightly, before his face grew serious a moment later. "Naruto didn't want me to debrief him without you two," he began slowly. "Clearly," he smiled slightly, "the teaching of the leaf aren't wasted with your team."

Naruto scratched the back of his head, moving his gaze downwards and sideways, clearly embarrassed by the praise. Sakura had a light smile on her lips, since being praised by the Hokage was no small feat. Sai remained his usual emotionless self.

"Hokage-sama, we are ready for debriefing," Sai finally said, standing to attention. Naruto soon imitated him, and so too did Sakura. As they stood one next to the other, shoulder to shoulder, the Hokage smiled briefly at them for a second more.

"Very well," the Hokage nodded. "I will ask your written reports later, but for the moment know this: I am extremely sorry to say that we already had suspicions of a dangerous character trying to move against Konoha's Jinchuuriki, but since we needed to have some confirmation, we moved out quickly to secure what else could be tied down to him."

"We were used as bait." Sai remarked coolly.

"Indeed," the Hokage nodded stiffly. Any trace of elderly grandparent was removed from his face. "This was a mission necessary for Konoha's survival, and the risks of the mission were taken into account…but we needed that confirmation."

"For what?" Naruto muttered. "Our sensei died for _what_?"

"I cannot tell you at the moment, it is a matter of _national_ security," Hiruzen spoke firmly. "You may choose to hate me for this, but this was a choice I, as Hokage, had to make for the good of the _entire_ village. I suspected all along, but now we have a clear idea of the enemy's true objective." His cold gaze settled on Naruto. "They have found a way to free the Kyuubi, and you are the most likely target for it."

In shocked silence, Naruto just stared with wide eyes as the Hokage kept on talking.

"We can be assured they will act during the timeframe of the Chuunin exams." The Hokage's gaze settled on Sai. "And with the help of an old friend, we have also uncovered a few spies in our midst. I gave you the mission abruptly specifically because it was something unpredictable. I shouldn't have sent your team, because you were being targeted. By doing that we managed to catch the spies trying to deliver the message to the outside." Hiruzen's voice slowly died down.

"And we have found the remaining members of the cell too. I will not disclose their names, but we are getting closer the enemy thanks to your mission."

"Bringing Sora in the village was never part of the real mission, right?" Naruto muttered back. "He was just a tool to be used."

Hiruzen exhaled a long breath. "Unfortunately the Hokage's title is not a simple matter of putting a hat on your head and stamp papers. The good of the village must come before the good of the individual. We have uncovered a spy cell within Konoha itself, and the price we paid is nothing when compared to the safety of all those who live in the village."

Naruto eyed the Hokage warily now, his cerulean orbs moving from him to his teammates and then back. "Are we tools, too?"

"You are shinobi," Hiruzen remarked firmly. "Your duties are many, your privileges few. You are military. You are leafs that shield the tree, the branches that hold steady against the wind. You are the bark that defends against the elements and the roots that anchor the trunk to the world. You are shinobi, and sometimes you are family, sometimes you are friends, sometimes…yes, sometimes you are also tools."

The Sandaime's eyes grew icy. "But you are never 'only' tools. This might _seem_ jaded or maybe it is jaded, but you should know that it is not easy to send men and women to their death every single day, and expect them all to come back alive. Out of a hundred missions, one or two fail. Out of a thousand, there can be deaths. Out of tens of thousands, there most certainly is at least someone who dies." Hiruzen sighed once. "All I can do is offer my condolence to your team, and warn you that you will be given time off to grieve, but not much…because Konoha _needs_ you. A new sensei will be chosen soon. I'll send a message when the time comes."

And it was then that it came crashing down. The realization that Aoba was truly dead. That their sensei wasn't coming back.

Sakura was first to sniff, clenching her hands tightly as she tried her hardest not to give in to the pain.

"A…A shinobi doesn't…show his tears," she mumbled. "Right, Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen nodded once, before turning around and moving to leave. "Nothing forbids dust in the eyes however," and with those words the Sandaime left quietly, closing the door behind him.

Sakura began to sob, tears streaking down her cheeks and her chin, as her shoulders moved up and down trembling while her hands went to cover her face. "He's dead, Aoba-sensei is…_dead_."

"Sakura," Naruto whispered coarsely. "I…"

The pink haired kunoichi stopped trembling a moment later, before wiping away her tears quickly and shaking her head. She then slapped both of her cheeks and said, with her voice still cracked by emotion.

"No," she muttered. "We can't cry," she added softly. "He wouldn't have wanted that, would he?" she coughed slightly. "He would have wanted us to become the best team ever, right?"

"Just as planned?" Naruto's lips twitched in a small smile.

Sai just looked at his two teammates with some perplexity. He didn't understand why they were crying. He had had a brother once, and he had died…but he hadn't cried then. Death happened in the shinobi world. You could enjoy being with someone, but crying for his death? One should cry for the destruction of the village. One should cry for his own failings…

One shouldn't cry for another shinobi's death.

He didn't tell that to his teammates however.

"Cherry, Dickless…" Sai remarked slowly. "We should…plan?"

Sakura nodded firmly. "We should."

"Sensei would have wanted that," Naruto finished. He clenched his right fist tightly. "Let's do this then," he added.

"Neh, Naruto?" Sakura asked then, curiosity etched on her face. "The Kyuubi, does he really talk to you?"

Naruto sharply drew in breath, before nodding once quickly. "He began just recently," he added, "but sometimes it's difficult to hear him."

"Lies and deceits can hold only for as long as the soul can," the Kyuubi remarked from his invisible spot behind Naruto's ear. His voice was calm and leveled, but Naruto could feel now the underlying tone of revenge just begging to come out.

He began to sweat slightly. The Kyuubi couldn't leave the seal, right? He would have tried when Naruto had been a child otherwise. Yet he couldn't help but think there was something fishy about the entire ordeal. Why not escape before? Why wait? He could have tried to ingratiate him earlier, lie to him and get freed…no, Minato would have appeared then, wouldn't he?

"Using your brain will get you nowhere," the Kyuubi said calmly. "And I am not inclined in answering your questions, considering how you miserably failed my test."

"Because you think it's easy, trusting you," Naruto muttered back.

Sakura and Sai both looked at him perplexed, and he quickly caught on as he widened his eyes and shook his head. "Sorry, I was talking to him."

"Is it safe?" Sakura whispered. "I mean…it's the Kyuubi. It nearly destroyed all of Konohagakure."

"A pity I missed her crib," Kurama snorted. "People who say the obvious are appalling to talk to."

Naruto shuddered. "He is pretty clear-cut," he muttered. "And I'd be dead without him to heal my wounds."

"I am not your glorified nurse, boy," Kurama remarked. "I am doing it because you cannot keep breaking _splinters_ the same way you can break a _tree_. I could care less whether you live or die."

"Still, the Hokage knows, right?" Sakura said. "If he's fine with it…"

"He doesn't," Naruto hastily said, looking down at the floor of the hospital. "You two are the only one I trust with this."

"B-But," Sakura stammered, "That's…that's not done. It's…It could be treason, Naruto!"

"I am with Cherry," Sai said then. He quieted down for a second, before adding. "For sake of clarification no, I have not become a woman nor do I have a Cherry on my body." Another heartbeat of silence passed by. "And I am not pregnant with a fruit."

Sakura looked at Sai with her eyes wide.

Naruto brought his right hand to his mouth.

The next instant, Sakura began to giggle as Naruto just laughed in his cupped hand, tears streaking down his face. "Sai!"

"That was…horrible," Sakura muttered, drying off the few tears that remained on her face. "Really _horrible_."

"So, where do we go now?" Naruto asked, looking at his teammates.

"My parents are going to be worried sick," Sakura said. "I should probably go back home. How about we meet tomorrow? At Hebi for lunch?" she asked then.

Naruto nodded.

"I'll be there," Sai said. "Dickless, Cherry," and then, opening the window, he leaped out.

"He couldn't take the stairs, could he?" Naruto muttered.

"We're checked to go," Sakura muttered, her eyes lingering over Naruto. "You sure you're fine?" she asked then, biting her lip. "T-There was so much blood…"

"I told you before," Naruto sighed. "I'm pretty much indestructible as long as I survive a battle. The Kyuubi's pretty much of a bastard, but he's fair to his deals…"

"Not like you," the Kyuubi off-handedly added. "But one of us has to be the voice of truth, honesty and reason, right?"

Naruto flinched. He clenched his right hand as Sakura waved him goodbye and left, leaving him alone in the hospital room. He still had to be checked by a medic, but he doubted they'd find much else.

As he on the nearby bed, in wait for a nurse to come check him up, he pondered…

Was he really doing the right thing, acting as he was? He could have told all the truth or a lie from the beginning. He had settled for half-mottled falsehoods and misguided words. Was this what being a shinobi really was like? Never to claim the truth, never to speak a lie?

He shook his head slowly as he watched the door open and a nurse come in. She gave him a single look over, not even coming close to touch him, before remarking coldly. "You can _leave_; there are people who are _really hurt_ that need the room. You know, the ones that _cousin_ of yours wounded on his rampage."

"He wasn't my cousin," Naruto muttered as he stood up.

"Monsters all share the same family, don't they?" the nurse remarked with frost in her voice, before turning her back to him and leaving him standing there, in silence and with his eyes wide.

Surely they wouldn't…The people wouldn't…

"And why not?" the Kyuubi asked, with a voice filled with nonchalance. "A Kyuubi-like creature wounded and killed people today, near the gate, when Team Thirteen returned with their little pet Jinchuuriki. The Hokage himself fought the aberration, and reports say the energy entered the Jinchuuriki…who wouldn't think _you_ had something to do with it?"

"But I'm innocent," Naruto meekly added as he began to walk outside, through the hallway. He watched as nurses and doctors pushed by shinobi on trolleys, urgently demanding blood and clean rooms to operate in. He could hear them scream about cauterizing, or blood loss. Had Sora caused this?

"As am I," Kurama replied. "You cannot claim I didn't give you a choice," the Kyuubi remarked. "I told you to consume him," the fox added. "I even forced _your_ hand to test your very honesty," there was a deep growl now in the Nine-Tails' voice. "And this…this is _your entire fault_, Naruto Uzumaki. You paid the price for _not listening_, once more. How many times, I wonder, will you pay it before you understand?"

"You're the Kyuubi, not me," he mouthed to himself as he left the hospital, avoiding as much as he could the glares of the families who had come urgently by, those of the people who were talking one to the other and pointed at him. He hadn't done anything! He hadn't even been fighting! He had been wounded among the first!

"Maybe," Kurama acquiesced. "But you are the one who _refused_ to speak. You are the one who _refused_ to heed my warnings. You are the one who keeps on closing his ears to my words. I do not care whether you live or die, Naruto. All I care is to be set free. You Uzumaki have unnatural longevity and vitality. Your mother _survived_ the extraction of me from her body, even when done by force. You'd just have to let me go, Naruto. I can teach you the way. I'd be gone, back to doing my job and I would never attack your friends again."

"Konoha would know," he muttered as he shook his head. "And they would ask me how it is possible for the Kyuubi to have disappeared...and even then, I can't trust you."

"You see, Naruto?" the Kyuubi wistfully said. "In the end, your words admit the truth you try to hide."

Slowly, Naruto could see the fox rise on its paws.

"You are _no better than the jailors_ _before you_! You know of my innocence by now, and yet you persist only because of _your own selfish needs_! The world is suffering, screaming in anguish for me and my brethren, but you do not care for it, do you? No! It is only 'I' who is important with you humans. The good of the humans before the good of the world…" the Kyuubi snarled. "I thought you different."

Silence for a split-second.

"I was wrong. You are worse than the others…you go as far as _faking_ to listen."

Naruto breathed slowly, his eyes were stinging and he didn't at all feel as some sort of lucky survivor. Aoba was dead, the Kyuubi was literally tearing him apart with words and if he had been truthful then the Hokage had used them as bait from the beginning. And even worse…

He was the only one to blame for all of this. He had had the chance to make things right. He had had the possibility to avoid all of this…

And he hadn't used it. This was Ino's mission all over again. He stepped through the dirty back alleys and the small and unkempt gutter-roads that passed across the entirety of Konoha, ignoring the rooftops entirely. He didn't feel like walking beneath the sun. He didn't feel like looking to the sky. His mood was literally at the bottom of the ladder.

He came out of a dirty side-street just in time to see a woman —a Chuunin judging by the Flak Jacket— enter through the doors of _Root_. He stilled for a second, not wishing to worry Danzo more about his troubles. He remained there for a while longer, hoping the woman would actually step outside.

When that didn't happen, he nearly turned to leave. He gritted his teeth in frustration at the idea of going back to Danzo's house without even passing by to tell the old shinobi he had returned safely. He breathed in and out deeply, before finally taking the few steps that separated him from entering the shop.

The moment he was inside, his nose twitched slightly.

He recognized that smell. The coppery scent of blood, thick and salivating. He licked his lips slightly as he watched Danzo standing behind the counter, his only eye settled on him. He could smell the blood, but he actually _couldn't_ see it.

There was no body furthermore, so he supposed it could be a can of dried meat somewhere? No, dried meat was bloodless. Maybe the contents of a blood replenishing pill? That too made no sense —it wasn't as if there actually was blood in those.

"Naruto," Danzo nodded his head slightly, a small smile on his face. "You came back all ready?" Naruto just nodded slowly. "I heard there was some…trouble, at the gates earlier, was your team involved?"

Sheepishly, he scratched the back of his head before nodding once more. "Yes, Shimura-sensei," he muttered. "The target we had to bring back to Konoha…he went mad," Naruto whispered. "We lost Aoba-sensei too," he grimaced as those words left his lips. "And…"

His shoulders began to tremble, as his vision clouded. Tears were streaking down his face as he looked at the floor, the cracked tiles and the polished pavement. He didn't see Danzo move, but he knew the next moment he was pulled into an awkward one-armed hug by the old shinobi.

"Hush," Danzo whispered soothingly. "It's fine to cry. There is no-one else here."

And Naruto…

Naruto cried. "It's not fair!" he exclaimed between sniffles and sobs, holding onto the fabric of Danzo's black clothes. "It's not right! He shouldn't have died!" tears fell down copiously, as the dam was broken and Naruto sobbed his sadness, his grief and his emotions out. He poured all that he felt outside through tears, and by the time he stopped a handkerchief was already there to wipe away the snot from his nose and the puffy red eyes.

"It never is," Danzo answered slowly and calmly. "Death never is fair, Naruto. It comes when you least expect it and strikes against the people you would least likely think."

Naruto nodded quietly. "I couldn't do anything, the enemy…they ambushed us. We could only run…"

"You know," Danzo remarked, "running isn't something bad, Naruto," the bandaged shinobi spoke. "Shinobi should not lay down their lives needlessly when not asked. A mission should be completed, but not at the cost of oneself," the Yami of Shinobi actually kept his façade collected as he spoke something that went directly against his beliefs. "The code should be lax in its interpretation," he added then. He felt like committing Seppuku.

But when the boy looked at him with trust shining behind those teary eyes…how could he not say that? How could he not say the words he knew the boy wanted to hear?

"We will be getting a new sensei soon," Naruto muttered. "I hope he will…he will a good one."

Danzo just nodded back thoughtfully.

At the same time, in the Hokage tower, the Sandaime was appointing his stamp.

"No," he said for the last time. "You will not get Team Thirteen."

"B-But!" Kakashi's arms flailed wildly. "My team is recouping at the hospital!"

"Yes," Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. "And because of that I am wary of giving you another team who will probably end up in the same way before the exam starts."

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi remarked. "I have to do this for the Yondaime…please…"

"No," Hiruzen shook his head firmly. "The new sensei has already been chosen. You will stand Anbu watch over Chuunin Tsubaki and the team composed of Kabuto Yakushi, Yoroi Akado and Misumi Tsurugi. If they meet again, you are to listen in to their conversations and deliver them back to me."

Deflated, Kakashi nodded quietly.

"Who will you assign then?" the silver-haired Jounin remarked. "Tenzo?"

"No," Hiruzen replied. "Assigning him would be as good as confirming to Orochimaru that we know what his plans are for Konoha. He will furthermore know the skillset of the operative. I will assign Neko to the operation. She is a sensor type, with basic knowledge of Fuinjutsu."

Kakashi didn't capitulate on the slipped addition of the Hokage, because he knew the Sandaime would actually tell him if he just glared at him with his only eye.

"I think it's time Naruto learned the basics of sealing, don't you think? And if they will have to train harder than ever for the Chuunin exams, then there will be no need for Danzo's intermissions."

"Neko is a skilled Kenjutsu fighter, not a Tanto user. I could train Naruto with the Tanto, if Danzo is the problem," Kakashi slowly tried again.

"Kakashi," Hiruzen sighed. "You think I cannot understand what your thoughts are?"

"This is a trap we are sending the kids into, Hokage-sama!" the silver-haired Jounin exclaimed. "We know Orochimaru will strike during the exams, and he will strike at Naruto, to unleash the Kyuubi!"

"And when he will try to do that, you will have already given me the means to intercept him and to take him down," Hiruzen answered coolly. "Do not let emotions cloud your judgment Hatake! This is for the good of the village!"

Kakashi breathed and exhaled slowly. "I understand."

"Good, you are dismissed."

Kakashi disappeared in a flicker, leaving behind a bundle of leafs that swept through the Sandaime's office and scattered his papers, the paperwork he had on the desk completely dispersing.

"…" Hiruzen looked for a second at the carnage of flying papers.

"That…" he muttered biting hard on his pipe. "Ah…" he sighed. "I'll go take a walk."

Aoba-sensei's funeral was held two days later. Konoha's cemetery wasn't filled with more than half a dozen of persons. One old lady was crying, probably Yamashiro's mother. Naruto watched the scene with the most impassive face he could muster, standing on a nearby branch and away from the mass of black dressed persons.

He hated funerals.

His left cheek hurt by impulse, rather than because someone had struck it. He didn't know if he'd be considered guilty of this too by the grieving mother, and he didn't want excuses anyway later on. He was tired of excuses.

He could see Sakura every now and then look around, trying to find him. Sai knew where he was of course, but he hadn't told. The Hokage finished his funerary speech and then bowed politely to Aoba's mother, before leaving for the tower. It was an honor to have the Hokage personally talk at your funeral, and it was something only Jounins and Anbus received. Great honor indeed, for someone buried beneath the ground.

He heard a soft step next to him, and the single gaze he sent in that direction told him all he needed to know. An Anbu wouldn't have made a soft step hearable unless they had wanted to announce themselves.

A woman with long purple hair and a Cat mask looked at him carefully. "You're not going down there?"

"And you?" he rebuffed her in a low voice. "You have nothing else to do?"

She didn't reply. She just turned her gaze back to the line of people going to offer their condolences to the mother of Aoba.

"Words are meaningless, right?" the woman suddenly said, startling Naruto out of his transfixion on the line moving.

"Uh?"

"Words. Are. Meaningless. Is that why you're not down there? Because words won't change anything?"

He looked at the masked operative for a moment, before slowly nodding once. "It's not like he'll rise from his grave…it's empty to begin with," Naruto muttered. "And his body wasn't found…maybe…"

"That is fool's hope," the operative remarked. "Missing in action is just a fancy term. Don't hope on seeing him again."

He gritted his teeth. "You knew Aoba-sensei?" he asked then, looking at the operative's striking figure up and down. She had a sword strapped to her back, a set of pouches and the Konoha symbol on her left shoulder. The uniform she was wearing was sleeveless, but she did have metal arm guards.

"Not personally, no," the woman shook her head. Her brown eyes lingered over his face for a moment, before adding. "But I heard of him."

"So…why are you here?" he asked then quietly.

"We should do the presentations with the entire team present," she said, her gaze returning to the leaving crowd of black dressed persons.

"Ah," Naruto's eyes widened briefly for an instant. "You're our new sensei?"

Yugao blinked once. "You don't seem too surprised. I am an Anbu."

"And I am the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi," Naruto muttered back. "You think I haven't seen many of you casually strolling by my apartment, day and night?"

"They aren't doing a good job if a Genin can see them," Yugao muttered back.

"I didn't," Naruto acquiesced. "Thanks for confirming it for me, though."

The Anbu blinked, albeit through the mask Naruto couldn't see it.

"Is this…_hazing_?" she asked unceremoniously. "Are you trying something?"

"The Chuunin exams are soon," Naruto muttered back. "We intend on participating," he added then calmly. "Will that be a problem?"

"I don't even know what your team can really do, past the reports and the evaluations your sensei wrote of," the Anbu answered carefully. "And unless I give my endorsement, you will not be participating."

"Then you see," Naruto whispered. "We don't have a problem: we want to participate."

"If you weren't, there would be a problem?" she asked then, slightly amused.

"No," Naruto sighed. "Aoba-sensei wouldn't want us to give you trouble…but I'm sure Sakura would sulk and Sai would simply increase the number of caustic remarks. Oh, right," Naruto blinked. "Sai's not a bad kid. He tends to speak his mind freely and is a bit strange most of the time, but I think he's just shy. If he gives you an ugly nickname it's not like he really means it."

Yugao remained quiet, but she did nod once to indicate she was listening.

"Sakura's our team leader," Naruto said once more. "She's the most people person there is between us, and she's got a book-smart mind when she's not scared. She's the one with the least stamina of us all, but she's training hard to overcome that."

"And what about you?" Yugao asked once more.

"I'm the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi," he off-handedly remarked. "As long as I don't die in battle, I'll be up and about in five minutes. Wounds just don't stick with me. I'm learning Tantojutsu with a private teacher, Shimura-sensei, and…" the boy sighed once, his eyes clouding. "Well, I'm completely Taijutsu-less. Something comes close to me and I'm dead if I'm unarmed and the enemy is skilled." His voice was barely a whisper, by the time he finally added. "I already killed someone too," he shook his head.

"Understood," Yugao nodded once. "Let's go down now and pay our respects."

The moment they descended from the branch, only Naruto's teammates had remained in the cemetery. Sakura huffed and clenched her right hand in a fist at the sight of him, but then simply shook her head and moved closer. She gave him an awkward hug, and then pushed him forward to the tombstone of their sensei.

She did give a quizzical look to the Anbu, while Sai simply stared with his usual emotion-less face.

"Neh, sensei," Naruto muttered to the tombstone. "Hope you…I…" his throat itched. "Well…it's been an honor." He bowed deeply to the stone. "I'll never forget you."

And then Naruto stiffly turned around, and walked away. He walked back to the new sensei, who was an Anbu. He walked back to his teammates, who were there and like him had their heart torn apart…at least, he didn't know about Sai, but with Sai you never knew.

"My name," the Anbu began, "Is Yugao Uzuki," she removed her Cat mask. She revealed her brown eyes and porcelain-like features to her team, before remarking. "I am a member of the _Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai,_ the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad," she shook her head, "to be more correct, I _was_ a member of the Anbu. As of now I have left the corps and am reinstated as a Jounin, Ninja ID o-one-two-one-six-one. I like to train and have regular spars, my hobby is moon viewing and I dislike traitors to Konoha and the Hokage. My dream is to have a happy family life."

She inclined her head towards Naruto. "I'm sure you are all familiar with the presentations…Uzumaki?"

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki," without skipping a beat, Naruto began to talk. "I like my team," he said then, "And dislike those who would harm my team," that part came out as a slight growl. "I enjoy the time spent training. I dream of becoming strong enough to protect my team."

"I know of a fellow shinobi who is pretty much identical in his mindset as you are," Yugao remarked.

A certain silver haired shinobi sneezed, forcing him to drop the apple he had been peeling and to start again. Sasuke —bandaged and with his limbs in casts— looked at him with murderous intent and a clear-cut desire to hurt the Jounin.

"Haruno?" Yugao quipped then, looking at the pink-haired girl who had a slight blush on her face.

"My name is Sakura Haruno," she stammered out first, before regaining her cool. "I like my team," she said then, a strange smile settling on her face. "And I dislike those who would harm my team," the smile turned positively feral by then as Yugao began to groan mentally. "I enjoy the time spent training. I dream of becoming strong enough to protect my team."

"Satou?" Yugao turned to the pale skinned boy, who frowned for just a second.

"I am Sai Satou. I like drawing, Cherry and Dickless," Yugao actually blinked, before turning to both Naruto and Sakura who just shrugged back. "I dislike seeing them hurt," there was a sort of gagging noise from Yugao's back-mind. "And I…" he seemed to struggle for a moment, before finally adding with a small smile on his lips. "I like being in this team," he whispered. "And I dream of becoming strong enough to protect my team."

"You planned this," Yugao finally said, turning her gaze to where Naruto was who simply smiled back with a wide grin.

"There won't be any problems, sensei," Naruto remarked. "I told you that."

If Yugao didn't die from the excess sappiness in their words, then probably there wouldn't be.

She sighed, shaking her head slightly. "How about we go somewhere for lunch? We can get to know each other better than this in that way."

The trio nodded _at the same time_.

Yugao groaned again.

**Author's notes**

**Done. The extra sappiness at the end is just to prepare yourself for the backslash of misery and death that is to come. Of course, I might be lying.**


	19. The Hook Without Sinker

Introverted

Chapter Nineteen

Training ground Twenty-Nine was a square of concrete, settled within an outcrop of bamboo canes and steel wires. Usually, the training ground was reserved for in-street fighting. It also was her favorite training spot, as it couldn't be easily accessed and from the outside people couldn't see within.

Her team was looking at each other, rather than at her. She supposed it was the norm in any group. She had never taught before, but with the need to leave the Anbu since she had all the intentions of getting married, there simply was no other way. Sure, she could have simply remained a Jounin, but this was also another way of training for motherhood. How difficult would it be to take care of three students?

She looked at the three of them standing tightly knit together. Probably the team-training would be unnecessary, but she had to make sure.

"Well," she began, coughing slightly to get their attention. Her brown eyes skimmed briefly over their choice of attire, but said nothing more. The girl, Sakura, was wearing a green jacket with a black shirt, a symbol of Konoha in red etched on the front. She was wearing a pair of beige shorts, and had ankle-length sandals.

Sai was instead still dressed in his usual all-black attire, but he was sporting two Tanto strapped to his back rather than one.

Naruto was wearing his hair raven and spiky, the Konoha forehead protector knotted on his right shoulder. He had a dark brown jacket, whose inner seams were all red. His shirt was a dark blue navy color, while his trousers were a really dark crimson. So dark it actually looked more like brown than crimson. He was wearing black sandals.

"I would like to test your prowess in battle," she began carefully. "Do you prefer one on one or team?"

She was surprised when the gaze of the trio didn't fall on Sakura, who was the Team Leader, but on Naruto. She slightly raised an eyebrow, but decided to ask the question later on.

"One on one," Naruto answered back calmly. She frowned. She had expected them to answer with 'Team' because of their closeness, but if that was how they wanted to play it…

"Fine," she pointed at Sakura. "You first then," she smirked slightly. "Cherry."

Sakura hesitantly walked forward, her right hand resting on her hip as she slowly went with her left to her pouch. Yugao frowned once more. How could she be that slow in drawing shurikens? There was a standard at the academy for that… wasn't there? She was trying her best to conceal the shurikens though, that much she had to admit. Her right hand now palming a Kunai, she waited for her signal to start.

The moment Yugao took position and nodded, the Kunai flew straight for her in a direct-line trajectory. She huffed as she simply swatted away the slow-travelling Kunai —for her senses, at least— before silently skirting around the flying shurikens and avoiding them. The girl hadn't been moving much except for taking out Kunai or throwing shurikens.

The Anbu closed the distance between them in a flash, ready to slam a fist straight into the girl's guts.

The sound of hurried footsteps forced Yugao to sidestep to the side once, and avoid an incoming steel-point of a Tanto, before immediately having to jump back to avoid three slithering black-ink snakes that had tried to attack her then. She was about to say something, but her mouth stopped at the narrowed gaze of those cold and icy cerulean orbs who were still charging forward, Tanto in hand.

She recognized those eyes. The will to murder was something operatives were taught once in Anbu however, not something a Genin was supposed to know. It wasn't a technique per se, so it wasn't as if someone had gone against the law. Simply, there was a difference between charging in with the intent to _wound_, or because one was _scared_, and charging in fully prepared _to kill or be killed_. She knew Hatake used to say 'come at me with the intent to kill' every time he trained his students, but nobody had ever understood what he meant.

She flexed her toes slightly and jumped in mid-air, before disappearing in a flash of leaves.

She watched from the shadows of the Bamboo canes the trio stand shoulder to shoulder, the two boys with a Tanto and the girl with a Kunai. She wasn't going to call 'fool'. Seriously, they had done beyond expectations. She was just going to toy with them for a moment. She grabbed three shurikens, and with precise and fluid motions launched them from her hiding spot before moving once more.

"C-6!" Sakura exclaimed, dashing back as the two boys charged ahead in two different positions. Yugao frowned. C-6? She watched as Sai disappeared in the bamboo cane patch behind her, while Naruto instead ended up somewhere in front of her.

Sakura remained alone in the center. Were they using the girl as bait?

No, there was a slight shimmer on the ground next to the girl. It was the E-rank technique, the one that required a small amount of chakra pooled into a cloak to hide with the terrain. So the girl near it was just an illusion. She jumped out of the bamboo cane patch anyway, especially when the slicing noise reached her ears. Since when did they give Giant Shurikens to Genins!?

Another one had been thrown from the opposite direction. Of course…they had no idea where she was, and they knew better than to try and fight her head-on. They could lucky guess though. She slammed her right foot against the illusion-covered cloak, expecting to see a terrified Genin beneath it.

She found a trove of dark-inky snakes ready to bite her.

A volley of shurikens hastily drawn and thrown destroyed them, but she had to admit…once more, that they were going _beyond expectations_.

She scoffed. How was she going to compete with Aoba's own teachings, if these were his results? She watched with vivid interest as nigh-invisible wire fell in wide circles over the training ground. They were probably setting off a trap of sorts with launchers. How were they going to let it start without attracting attention?

An ink lion roared loudly as it charged from the corner of her eye-sight. The teeth were dangerous, but the tail…was that the tail of a snake to begin with? She simply recoiled slightly, before punching straight to the side the ink creature. The flash of steel of a chakra-enhanced Tanto forced her to rely on her instincts, as she grabbed the wrist that popped from the ink and with a sudden jerking motion snapped it cleanly, before throwing the Genin on the ground.

In her defense, she hadn't expected it.

On the plus side, Naruto didn't scream. As she let him go, he just jumped out of the way and back in the bamboo patch. Maybe it was time she called the exercise done: she had seen enough, hadn't she?

But it was _fun_.

On Anbu missions one rarely had the time to _toy_ with opponents. They always were adrenaline-induced high-risk missions from which there was little chance of survival for anyone else, and the mortality rate of operatives was usually of fifty percent. So, in this occasion…she was having fun and there was nothing the three Genin could do to actually hurt her.

It was a nice change of pace. She'd probably have to buy lunch for the trio of course, and maybe even dinner for Naruto, but everything was otherwise extremely enjoyable.

Her ears heard the soft muffled cry and the slight snapping of bones once more. Had the boy settled his own wrist?

It took guts. Well, she had let him go. If she had simply completed the motion with the kunai in her other hand, she could have killed him already.

The trap was probably ready, because in the middle of the steel wires it was Sai who appeared next. She cocked her head to the side with a small grin on her face, and then she kicked the concrete ground once before slowly taking out her own sword.

It was an open space. Katanas were a must. Maybe between the bamboo crops and the random steel wires Tantos were more useful, but in the center of the concrete circle…she charged ahead, quietly making a Kage Bunshin to finish the move while she simply hid once more in the canes.

Sai didn't dodge, but then again he didn't need to since it merely was an ink-clone who fell on the ground in a puddle of black liquid. The wires snapped around her Kage Bunshin, before a volley of shurikens, kunais and even needles barraged the area.

She could have probably snapped the wires with ease and escaped, but a Chuunin would most certainly have to sweat his way through it.

If not outright die.

"All right!" she exclaimed then, emerging from her hiding spot. "Exercise's over. Come on out!"

Three seconds later and the three Genin were in front of her. Sweaty, grime-filled for some reason and the girl reeking of oil, but none worse for the wear. Naruto's wrist was enclosed with bamboo canes and steel wire, and it had apparently been tightened firmly.

"You all did well," she announced proudly. "I have some questions however," she turned to Sakura. "You're the Team Leader…why were you and Sai taking orders from Naruto?"

"Well," Sakura remarked. "He's the Field Leader. I'm the people person, he's the wicked one."

Yugao nodded. Generally the Field leader was used only in groups of seven or more Shinobi, where a spot to coordinate more than one team was required.

"What exactly does C-6 mean?" Yugao asked then. "I suppose it's a plan of battle already pre-planned."

"Contingency Crap-Six," Sakura muttered in a low voice. "Aoba-sensei had contingencies from Alpha to Omega, and then he had the 'Crap-Ten'. When one of those happens the purpose is to survive rather than to fight."

"And an Anbu is at Crap-Six?" Yugao remarked calmly. She wasn't surprised by the vulgar word used. Heck if she didn't know just what the Anbu used for 'Fubar'.

"Anbu-figure wanting your guts is at Crap-Six," Naruto nodded sagely. "Crap-Seven is Anbu-Taichou. Crap-Eight is S-rank. Crap Nine is a Kage and Crap-Ten is an entire shinobi village out to get you."

"Aoba-sensei used to say that if you reached Crap-Nine then you were clearly doing something wrong with the 'act discreetly' part of being a shinobi," Sakura remarked.

"I see," Yugao commented. "How were you communicating one with the other? I didn't hear radio chatter."

Sai slowly took out a scroll and drew a line upon it, before calling forth an ink needle.

Yugao watched as the boy flicked it straight against Naruto, where it impacted and slowly slithered its way to his forearm. There it became Kanji.

_Long-Distance and Pincer._

"I see," the purple haired woman remarked. "But how did they answer back?"

Naruto tapped twice on the words, as a small spike of chakra filled them and reformed them.

_Affirmative._

The next moment it condensed once more into a chakra needle, and Naruto threw it back at Sai who acquired the same words.

"It requires chakra control and a good aim," Sakura commented then, "But it was the best we could come up with that didn't require sound…and we're still working on silent hand-signs."

"I see," the Jounin crossed her arms over her chest, taking in and pondering over what to do. "Well, I suppose we can go to the hospital for Naruto's injury, and then…"

"That won't be needed, sensei." The wrist was unbound with Naruto's words, and instead of a heavily red or broken limb stood a freshly unscathed one. It was as if she had never broken it to begin with.

"Oh, right," Yugao blinked once. "You did tell me about this, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did," he replied coldly.

There was silence for a moment more, before Yugao exhaled slowly. "It wasn't on purpose," she remarked calmly. "You were good, and I acted on instincts. This should say a lot about your team. I didn't specifically manhandle you," there, she saw it. The glint in the back of his eyes. It was either distrust or reluctant acceptance, but anyway she had taken it out in the bud. It would be a long way before any of them would trust her like they did their sensei, but maybe she could fast-track them into Anbu eventually…

The thought of being able to brag about her entire team entering Anbu wasn't so bad, at least in her mind.

"Well, with what I saw there is no doubt you are all ready for the Chuunin exams," she nodded sagely. "Let's move to another training ground, this is ill-suited for general stamina-building." She turned thoughtful for a second more, "Training ground seven should be free. You go ahead —I'll put things back as they were here."

The trio nodded and began to walk away, leaving her there. She turned her gaze sideways, diagonally upwards. When the three Genin were finally out of sight, she exhaled slowly. "Hatake-san, you can come out."

A tuft of silver hair accompanied by a mask-wearing man appeared right next to her. "Oh, mah! You found me…" the orange covered book of _Icha Icha Lusty Team Building_ in his hands, he eye-smiled with his only available eye.

"You were watching since the beginning, right?" she asked then, accusingly.

"I was just lost on the road of life," he remarked. "And I stumbled upon this area by chance."

Yugao sweat-dropped slightly. "Really?" she turned thoughtful. "Hatake-san…you don't want them to participate in the exams?" it was the only reason she could think of for having been able to sense him. Unless the Wolf-masked Anbu had gone soft over the years, she knew it had been her mentioning of the Chuunin exams to the Genin that had brought him out.

"Mah, mah! Why would I do that?" Kakashi replied. "Just…train them well, yes?" he winked with his only eye. "They're pretty special. We don't want them hurt."

She raised her right eyebrow. "It's about Uzumaki, isn't it?"

"He is a little bit more special than the others, but you should value the team in its entirety."

"I'm not blind," she remarked. "The Hokage _told_ me of his parentage."

"Good, then you know why…"

"Still," Yugao mumbled. "He should at least be granted—"

"I wouldn't go there," Kakashi's tone turned slightly frosty. "If there is something worse than going to a tomb every day, it's to know that the grave is empty."

"Maybe you're right, sempai," Yugao muttered. She turned thoughtful for a second. "Did you see his eyes?"

"Oh no, Tzunade! Don't stiffen poor Ziraiya like that without lubricating…"

Yugao glared at Kakashi. Kakashi ignored the heated glare.

The purple haired kunoichi groaned. "Fine…but it's my team now, Hatake-san. Please don't try and meddle with them. Don't you have your own team to talk with?"

"They won't be in the exams," Kakashi said. "Unfortunate training accident…" the silver-haired shinobi closed the book then, before adding, "I think I should go. Even _fashionably_ late can run out of fashion eventually."

Yugao didn't even bother to look startled as the man disappeared quickly, leaving her alone in the training ground which didn't need to be repaired…since it was a duty some Chuunin would take on them eventually. She jumped away too, the training ground where she had gestured her team to go her objective.

She supposed they could eat somewhere nice for lunch…then they could take a D-rank mission for the afternoon. Something easy, without too much trouble.

The easy and not troubling mission they signed for, during the afternoon, was nothing short of the most boring thing ever to be done in the history of Konohagakure no Sato.

They had to set the library records in the Konoha public archives back to their alphabetical order.

The work was done in a dusty and mold-filled place whose stale air contrasted sharply with the humidity of the walls themselves. The metal drawers glinted painfully against the light that shone from the ceiling, and if the sharp contrast wasn't enough, many of the corridors within the place were unlit and dropped in pitch-black darkness.

They had strict orders not to read anything within, but then again all documents had to be waxed if found open.

Sakura came to the waxing desk with a pile of unfolded documents, which Sai neatly began to seal once more using a stamp. Their sensei was watching from a corner, her face scrunched in concentration. The job was being done dutifully and without a moment of complaint, but at the same time the eerie quiet atmosphere was unnerving her. There existed a thing known as 'too quiet' after all.

Naruto was looking through another pile of wax-filled envelopes, trying to find their position in the archives, when a picture hastily dropped on a nearby pile caught his attention. He raised an eyebrow as he moved closer to it. The picture was of a Jounin with bright red hair that fell behind her shoulders, with violet eyes and a bright grin on her face. She was making the victory sign too. He turned the picture trying to find some sort of indication of where it belonged, but all he got was a hastily scribbled.

_U.K. Jounin Promotion._

He looked around, for the U-archive. Looking at the folders on the table, his gaze lingered for a moment back on the corridor from which he had come through. His sensei wasn't within sight, and since his job _was_ to settle the archives back to order, Naruto kind-of had to open the folders. At least to look for a 'U-K' of sorts.

Utsumi Kazuko wasn't clearly the woman in the picture, since he was a male. Urara Katsu wasn't either. His gaze settled on the last folder of the pile. Red hair, violet eyes, height…weight…Uzumaki, Uzumaki Kushina.

His hands felt numb as his eyes began to descend over the data. From the Ninja registration id to the age of service, he began to carefully and calmly read everything. There was no mention of marriage. She resulted dead from the Kyuubi attack. There was a big black REDACTED written over the reason for her leaving the active shinobi corps, but except for that…

It looked like a normal folder to him…if it weren't for the fact that his father's word rung through his head in that precise moment. _And tell Kakashi that if Kushina could see him, he'd kill him for having dropped off the radar with you._

It was then that his gaze settled on her team's composition.

_Team twelve: …Uzumaki Kushina. Jounin-Sensei: Orochimaru._

His breathing hitched. The folder fell on the table. He gasped as he heard footsteps approaching. Quickly, he closed the folder. He feigned indifference as best as he could as he began to work the pile as if everything was normal.

"Everything all right, Naruto?" his sensei's voice reached and startled him.

"Ah! Yes, yes," he nodded quickly. "I was just…looking where this pile had to go."

Why was he acting like that to begin with? Orochimaru was just the name of _the_ traitor of the leaf. The S-rank missing-nin who had single-handedly managed to defeat both the Hokage and his teammates while making his own escape. He was the boogeyman of kids. You wanted to scare a child? You just had to tell them Orochimaru was out to get them.

The purple haired woman was of course suspicious, her eyes narrowing slightly told him that much. "You looked at any of these?" she asked then lightly.

"N-No," he stammered out shaking his head. "It's just that…they shouldn't be here. The U archive in on the other side, right?"

The Anbu raised an eyebrow at that, before carefully moving to the first folder of the pile. She frowned. "Yes, it isn't normal. They shouldn't actually be here. I'll take care of moving these," she remarked. "Nice catch. Look around if you find any more, Naruto."

"Y-Yeah!" he nodded firmly, before turning to his task once more. He mentally scoffed as he began to recall the entire conversation. He really was a smooth shinobi wasn't he? He couldn't even lie to save his life. Not that it mattered much —after all he was just curious about a potential family member who had died. That was all.

It was only when he finally calmed enough to start looking at his surroundings that he realized he had been holding onto the picture of the woman. He hissed in surprise, before quickly placing it in the inner pockets of his jacket. He was going to drop it off on another day of course.

As it turned out, he completely forgot about the picture of his mother until he sat down to eat dinner, later that same day, with Danzo-sensei.

"How has your day been?" the old shinobi asked calmly, his only eye fixed on him.

"The new sensei is an Anbu," he muttered back. "We went to clean the archives today."

"Oh? Read anything interesting?"

"Uh? H-How? What! No, of course not!"

"When I was your age I always did give a quick peak to the folders that had my same surname," Danzo said. "I was an orphan, you know? I never found a connection, but then again…" the old shinobi sighed. "There wasn't much to hope. Konoha was just budding, and already wars loomed over its future."

"Danzo-sensei," Naruto bit his lower lip. "What were the Hokage like?"

"What brings this on?"

"The Sandaime…he spoke of how the Hokage should put the village before the single shinobi…I wondered what the other Hokage were like because of this."

Danzo closed his only eye for a moment, as if lost in thought.

"The first Hokage, he always had a smile on his face and a sunny disposition. He used to say that Heaven's garments were without seams…meaning that the simple things were the most beautiful," the old shinobi chuckled slightly. "He was the reason Konoha held so many different clans that coexisted peacefully."

Carefully, Danzo lowered his chopsticks. "Tobirama-sensei instead was…more pragmatic. He firmly believed in laws, placing them before the person. He was colder than his older brother, but also more logical. You can never fully trust someone, unless you hold their hearts in your hand," he commented. The Yami of shinobi remained quiet for a moment more, before he finally added.

"However they both valued the village before the individual…but you must understand, Naruto, that they valued the shinobi as well. They never asked for something they themselves were not ready to give. The second Hokage sacrificed himself to save his team from the Kinkaku force, knowing fully well he would not escape acting as a diversion. The first Hokage battled against Madara and all of the Bijuus, defeating and imprisoning them."

Naruto's eyes widened at the implication. "He was that strong?"

"Indeed," Danzo nodded firmly. "He came from an era of war, one among many brothers…but war always have a way to take the things you cherish away," the old shinobi quipped. "That is why when wars are fought they must be fought with no moderation. They must be fought completely, utterly, with full conviction and no space of error or lapse of judgment. To wait and see is to stall, and to stall is to have the number of victims rise day by day, hour by hour."

"Danzo-sensei," Naruto began then hesitantly. "What about the heroes of the war? The three sannin? Do they place the village before…"

"No," Danzo interrupted brusquely, his tone turning slightly frosty. "This is a lesson that must be learned well when you will have students, Naruto. Power begets freedom and corruption in equal amount. The more powerful someone is, the freer he turns out to be…and at the same time laws start to make less sense on him too. Tsunade Senju, heir of the noble clan Senju is an indebted alcoholic who spends her time dallying around the country without a purpose if not racking up even more debt. The Sandaime cannot recall her back because she refuses to be found, and the only one who could find her fakes trails to reach dead-ends."

There was now a low grumble in Danzo's throat.

"The second one, Jiraiya, is an author of perverted debauchery who holds a spy network so laxly that it's a wonder it is still active. He refuses to choose an heir to his techniques, and has already renounced the Konoha forehead protector for that of the Mount of Toads, effectively making him loyal only in name to the village itself." The scowl now reached full force.

"And finally there is the outright traitor of the leaf, Orochimaru. He was the brightest of the three, the most cunning…I personally taught him too, you know? I was the one who placed him in Anbu…and that was probably his downfall. He no longer answered to me, but only to the Hokage…and Hiruzen was too soft. He didn't see the signs. In war, Orochimaru's experiments were needed. He was the one who co-engineered half of the medical pills we use, and quite a few summoning contracts entered our village because of him. Yet for all his worth…in the end he tasted the full power of being free of restrictions…and the laws of Konoha seemed like tight chains and shackle to him thereafter."

Danzo shook his head. "He betrayed the village —not before sacrificing his own students for one more gruesome experiment— and left after having battled to a stand-still Hiruzen and, later on, Jiraiya." The old shinobi clenched his left hand slightly. "There is no greater enemy than him for the well-being of Konoha."

"I…And he…he is after me?" Naruto's throat clenched slightly. "He wants to kill me?"

"Probably not," Danzo replied. "He always had a fascination with the Uzumaki…he had a student which was one, if I recall correctly."

"Why?"

"Who knows," Danzo shrugged slightly. "Probably, he was curious about the rumored long life and vitality of the clan. He became engrossed with immortality in the end, and that was probably his downfall. He made mistakes, corpses not properly treated which left small trails that the Anbu in the end managed to follow…his laboratories were found and dismantled afterwards."

"How did the Kyuubi break free?" Naruto's eyes widened suddenly.

Danzo smiled. The smile was positively feral. "The previous container failed to keep the beast in check while giving birth," his tone turned thoughtful. "Albeit many say that having told her sensei, Orochimaru himself had a part in it…but there was no proof against him of course."

Kushina Uzumaki, his mother, would never have unleashed the Kyuubi willingly. There were only a few people who could actually answer what had happened that night…and one was all but trustworthy.

"The Kyuubi was then sealed in me," he remarked carefully… "Was she…my mother?"

"That is an S-rank secret," Danzo replied.

"Are _you_ my mother?" Naruto asked back calmly, his eyes narrowing on the old shinobi who looked back at him perplexed for a second, before a grin rose on his lips.

"No, I am not."

"So she was my mother," the Genin exhaled a breath he hadn't known to be holding inside of him. "And she died that night, when the Kyuubi escaped from her."

"That is an S-rank secret," Danzo remarked once more.

Naruto's face furrowed in confusion. "Uh? My mother died, right?"

"That…is an S-rank secret."

Naruto dropped his chopsticks. He watched with his eyes bugging out the Yami of shinobi, who merely looked back at him with a slightly grieving face. His voice was barely a croaked whisper when he spoke.

"W…Why wasn't I…told?"

"Because," Danzo said then, "there is nothing you could do."

"Where is she?"

"That is an S-rank secret."

"Iwa?"

"No," Danzo scoffed. "Where do you think a wounded person would go after a battle?"

"Hospital," Naruto answered then. "She's in the hospital of Konoha."

He mentally cursed. He had been in that hospital practically every week! He was supposed to have caught on to it eventually!

"That is an S-rank secret," Danzo nodded thoughtfully. "Before we proceed in this game of false or 'S-rank secret' I must warn you, Naruto," his sensei's voice was thick with seriousness, "you will _not_ like what you will find, if you decide to pursue this."

Naruto breathed once more. He closed his eyes. Could he trust his sensei's words? If he didn't…whose words could he trust? The Kyuubi…he wasn't even talking. He supposed the fox was sitting there somewhere, playing shogi or solitaire while smirking. Yes, he could even imagine the nine tailed demon simply smirking no matter what he chose.

He hadn't trusted the Kyuubi the first time, and he had paid the consequences.

If he didn't trust his sensei now…

"All right," Naruto muttered. "I'll…I'll think about it."

Danzo smiled. "Thank you for your trust, Naruto," he began to say, "You did the right thing. It pains me too, to force you like this but…" the Yami shook his head firmly. "Let us talk about the incoming Chuunin exams then," the retired shinobi asked. "Are you and your team ready?"

Naruto felt slightly hollow as he nodded and began making small talk. He was a coward. He should have asked. Now…now he'd have to find out on his own.

Yugao Uzuki was washing the dishes helped by Hayate, her boyfriend, when the man's rough voice reached her ears. "I was chosen to be the proctor for the third part of the exam," he remarked. "Is your team going to participate?"

"Ah," Yugao answered back with a slightly sheepish tone —she had trained herself for a long while to manage it. "Yes."

"You don't need to fake the tone," Hayate sighed, before coughing slightly bringing his right hand to his mouth. "You'll get there, eventually."

"I hope so," Yugao's voice was stern once more. "It's just…why did they choose you?"

"You know with my lungs as they are," Hayate said, "strenuous activity is out. I'm usually doing counter-intelligence within Konoha, and since they did need a proctor…"

"Who did they choose for the first and second parts?"

"Ibiki's doing the first, and Anko is doing the second," he replied slowly sliding the dishes into the cupboard. "So, you're planning on sending the rookies out?"

"They aren't rookies," she replied shaking her head. "They're solid, all of them. Sai and Naruto are clear-cut Chuunins already. It's a shame Naruto doesn't have any techniques…but I can understand the thought."

"With the amount of chakra he has," Hayate shuddered. "So, how are they going to enter the fray?"

"Assassination squad," she replied calmly. "All three of them. The girl's a trap-maker. Sai is the recon and Naruto is the strategist."

"You know," Hayate slowly scratched the tip of his nose. "I'll have to tell them I can't be the proctor if your team is up for running. There's a conflict of interests and what-not."

"Understood," Yugao nodded firmly. She looked outside the nearby window. "It's time for your medicine, Hayate."

"Ah…yes," Hayate frowned. "I'm going." He began to move, slowly making his way towards the bathroom.

Yugao remained alone, staring at the dish she was washing.

She knew of at least ten ways of killing someone with broken or jagged ceramic edges. She knew of five ways to make the soap a lethal instrument. The running water could be the source of a water jutsu. If she wanted to kill Hayate, she would just need to swap his medication pills for poisoned ones. She knew it wasn't the right thing to do, thinking of all possible ways to kill someone…

But she was Anbu, and that was what they expected from her. Was she really going back to the normal life of a shinobi? She couldn't believe it. She still waited with bated breath for a secret summon, telling her the deep cover was done and she could resume being Cat. She could fake it really well of course, but some emotions were more subtle to catch.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror, and the cat-masked face looked back at her.

"You're not screwed up," Yugao firmly stated. "You're just…_different_."

She just had to believe that.

Yes, she just had to believe.

Meanwhile, on a darkened rooftop near the hot-springs of Konoha, a grim-looking white haired man sighed.

"Damn," Jiraiya of the Densetsu Sannin muttered. "I arrived late."

His shoulders dropped. "The hot springs are closed," he whispered to himself.

"_Damn_."

**Author's notes**

**Next chapter, Chuunin Exams. **


	20. The Meetings Among Equals

Introverted

Chapter Twenty

Jiraiya of the Sannin jumped from rooftop to rooftop, silently making his way through the village. He avoided both the Anbu patrols —which would have just wasted his time with identification procedures— and the possible civilian fans of his erotic words —which would simply create a fuss and stall him for autographs. It actually saddened him that people enjoyed porn more than other types of serious novels.

All he had to do was to write in a perfectly readable way a few choice sentences like 'luscious breasts with perky nipples' or 'smooth alabaster-like skin' and then rinse and repeat them. People _were_ that dumb.

He tugged at his wide jacket, taking out a scroll and an ink brush. Quickly dipping the brush in ink —all the while running towards the Hokage tower, he wrote a quick message.

"_I'm in town, old geezer —see you soon!"_

He slapped the message against the window of the tower with a powerful jump, before spinning in mid-air and using the momentum to land on the tower's roof. From there, another jump brought him all the way up to where the Hokage Monument was.

He narrowed his eyes as he took in the beauty of his village at night. He had arrived relatively late, meaning the lights of the red district were still fully working, and the banter from that area —as well as the restaurant one— was still high. "Food or women," he mused. "The eternal dilemma."

He watched with trepidation a few buxom ladies holding their merchandise out in the open and fresh air of the night within the red district, his keen eye-sight telling him all he needed to know about them. He grinned as a small dribble of blood fell down his nose.

Landing squarely in front of the closest 'Consolation Bar', he smiled and opened his arms wide as he stepped inside. "Who's ready for a party!?"

The cheerful noise of girls coming his way was all the confirmation he needed.

It was good to be home.

He sat down loftily, a girl per arm and a third one serving him one of their most prized sake bottles. He laughed and took sips, enjoying both the music and the attention. He had money, and as long as he had then there was nothing the girls wouldn't do for him. He had fame, and because of that he could stretch the line a bit more. He was a bloody war hero, and if he wanted to, he could outright snap the line and bring them all to bed…

If he so wished, of course.

He didn't. It was easy to see that there was no real enjoyment in the girls that surrounded him. They were just taking care of him because he was famous and had money, not because they sincerely enjoyed his company. He laughed harder as one of the girls came out with a joke, even if he thought it was tasteless. Anything to deaden the pain…

It didn't take much for the women to leave, as the bright white robes of the Hokage had that effect on any whorehouse or house of pleasure in Konoha. Hiruzen looked at him slightly affronted, before gritting his teeth.

"Jiraiya, my misguided student," the old man always began his greeting like that for him, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, it was late, and I didn't want to interrupt your work…"

Actually, he just hadn't wanted to go on a long-winded report of what was transpiring soon enough…not without confirmation at least.

"Nonsense," Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, taking a seat on an armchair opposite from him. "What news of Iwa?"

"They're sending a team," Jiraiya answered back. "They're sending a team with the Tsuchikage's grand-daughter in it."

"Political backslash would be terrible should she die," Hiruzen muttered. "That old coot…he basically asks us to promote her or bring war."

"It gets worse," the sannin muttered. "I know from a source that they're scouting for the Jinchuuriki of Konoha. When the wool we pulled over their eyes failed with Orochimaru…" his voice turned sorrowful, "they're suspicious we don't actually have the Kyuubi in check."

"There's more to it," the Sandaime said shaking his head. "Isn't there?"

"Yeah, they wouldn't normally be this forward about it…but rumor is both of their Jinchuuriki have gone missing, and the blame is shifting over who is at fault," Jiraiya acquiesced. "They're sending them to scout, claim ignorance and have them shipped back if discovered."

Hiruzen sighed. "I knew Oonoki was a scoundrel, but to swoop so low as to use his own granddaughter? Every man should have an _ethic_ at least," he shook his head.

"There's more," Jiraiya licked his lips as he took a swig of sake. "Amegakure is in shambles. Someone killed Hanzo and took his place, and guess what? There's no mention of it anywhere in the streets. Not a single whisper at all…you'd expect they'd be overjoyed or something, but it's like he never died in the first place. Hell…I didn't even actually _see_ his body. Only, all his top-level guards suddenly dead and he is no longer leaving his rooms? He's dead."

The Sandaime took out his pipe, slowly lighting it and taking a deep breath of tobacco from it. "Anything more to add, Jiraiya?"

"There have been rumors," he fidgeted. Jiraiya never fidgeted unless it concerned someone very specific, and immediately Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. "That Tsunade was last seen with Orochimaru."

The old shinobi exhaled, before turning an icy glare to his student. "Jiraiya…"

"I know, I know!" the spy-master brought up both hands. "You know if my source weren't trusted, I would never even imply this," he added. "And you know how much I value Tsunade, sensei…"

"I know," Hiruzen nodded thoughtfully. "So, have you any solid proof? Any lead on a reason?"

"No," the white haired sannin shook his head. "I don't…unless he managed to convince her because of what happened…"

The Sandaime grimaced, before taking a slow puff of smoke. As he exhaled the smoke, his gaze turned stern.

"This time…try and contact her, Jiraiya. If Orochimaru gets his hands on her medical knowledge…"

"I understand, Hokage-sama," the white haired man replied, his voice slightly heavy.

Hiruzen smiled briefly, before nodding. "Well, enough of this. I didn't call you back only for your report," the old Hokage clasped his hands together, his expression turning thoughtful. "There is a problem with Naruto, Jiraiya."

The other shinobi tensed. "What happened?"

"Danzo," Hiruzen sighed, moving the pipe in his mouth from one side to the other. "He managed to sink his claws in him. He's fast-tracking him for Anbu."

"He can't do that," Jiraiya muttered, before looking at his sensei. "You can't do that."

"It will be out of my hands," the Sandaime remarked. "If it is of any consolation, none of the clans would want to hear about the Jinchuuriki being the personal right hand of the Hokage, or some rubbish like that."

"It only makes things worse," the other shinobi shook his head. "Anbu changes people. Look what it did to Orochimaru!"

"You can't fault the program because of one shinobi."

"No, but I can fault you for not catching on him faster!" the toad sennin hissed venomously. "You were supposed to be there!"

"That…that was my fault," Hiruzen acquiesced. "But I didn't see it when I could, and then I was too busy trying to keep the village afloat to give it the time it required. And someone else was stupidly elsewhere, trying to forget about all of his duties. Do you know I came close to branding all three of my students as Missing-Nin? Where were you, when the village needed it the most?"

Jiraiya averted his gaze. "Living a dream, I suppose," there was an uncomfortable silence. "But it doesn't matter, does it? What's done is done."

"Indeed," Hiruzen nodded. "What matters now is what you will be doing with Naruto."

"I could take the squirt on as an apprentice. Show him the good life," Jiraiya smiled brightly. "The light side, you know?"

"Please avoid taking him to a whorehouse on his first training day," the Sandaime sighed. "I still recall how twitchy your Genin were the next month."

"Who does he take most from?" Jiraiya asked then. "Is he a mini-Kushina or…"

"He was," Hiruzen muttered. "He was such a bright ray of light…" the Sandaime's voice actually held a tone of sorrow as the shinobi spoke. "And now there's just…nothing. On one hand, I admire his desire to hold his emotions in check like a true shinobi…but on the other hand, I regret a child having to hide his hurt from the world."

"I couldn't take him in, sensei," Jiraiya whispered. "I was always around, and me taking care of a baby? It's the beginning of a tragic comedy, and you know it."

"I wasn't faulting you, my student," Hiruzen said. "Answering your question…I think a melancholic Minato would be the most apt description. However…you will have to fight for his trust. If you can't win him over, then you'll have to try with his team. They recently lost their sensei, and while I already gave them a replacement…"

"So he trusts his teammates," Jiraiya quipped in. "That's not a bad thing at all. I thought with Danzo he'd distrust everything and everyone."

"Don't remind me," Hiruzen whispered. "I doubt he will ever trust me again. After his sensei died…I chose poorly with my words. I doubt he views me as more than a tyrant who fickly sacrifices his men."

"And aren't you one? Could have fooled me," Jiraiya sarcastically replied. "He'll come to. He's a kid —they rebound from pretty much everything."

"He's as much of a kid as Orochimaru was," Hiruzen muttered. "He already killed. He's already able to look at you and see a target, rather than just a person. Danzo trains him well…but if this keeps up there will no longer be a Naruto to train, but just a second copy of Yami."

"So I have to take him out, show him the fun of the world?"

"No," the Sandaime shook his head. "You're more likely to have him rebuff you that way. Take the no-nonsense approach. The one you used with Minato. He'll respond to that…but don't try and make him a second copy of your student Jiraiya…let him be his own person."

"And if his own person has an agenda against Konoha? One similar to Orochimaru, Danzo or whoever else?"

The Sandaime breathed deeply. He exhaled slowly a moment later. "You are the one with the Fuinjutsu knowledge necessary to extract the Kyuubi."

And in that single sentence, Jiraiya understood perfectly all the underlying messages sent his way.

"He's my godson."

"A godfather who is never there cannot claim to have one."

"They entrusted him to me, sensei."

"And you in turn left the village."

"I already said my piece about it!" Jiraiya exclaimed. "You can't fault me for that!"

The patrons of the pleasure house had been slowly creeping outside; one after the other, they left as silently as they could just in case they ended up eavesdropping upon hushed secrets that could mean their termination for the safety of the village. It was just as Jiraiya finished his rant that the last of the patron hurriedly paid and left.

Except for the Anbu guards dressed as normal patrons, and the apparently 'new' bartender who had begun his shift in that moment, there was no-one else in the bar.

"No, but you cannot fault me for taking care of the village first, Jiraiya!" Hiruzen hissed. "I did what I could for him with what I could get away with! After the attack Konoha had to remain united and the clans had to be pacified! Do you know they actually wanted the Kyuubi extracted from Naruto, a 'nameless orphan' to be placed in one of the clan heirs? Thankfully the seal could not be replicated, or you _wouldn't_ have a godson to begin with!"

"I know that," the toad sannin snarled back. "I placed Konoha before him too, you know? I had to! You _begged_ me to do what I could to keep the other villages away! You begged all of us! Tsunade had to _heal_ Oonoki's hip for Kami's sake to keep the old man out of the way!"

"We all have our problems and our faults in this, Jiraiya," Hiruzen finished calmly. "There isn't a single innocent soul around here, and we both know it. Yet I must ask you once more this. Please, for the good of Konoha, if it will come to it…"

Jiraiya exhaled. "I will _not_ kill my godson, unless he _actually_ becomes a threat to Konoha's citizens." The man's eyes narrowed, "And if it will come to that…I will not be coming back."

The Sandaime exhaled. "That is all I can ask of you."

"And it is all I will give."

The next few days went by idly, as preparation for the Chuunin exams within Konoha reached a new peak. Foreign diplomats and ambassadors began to arrive, soon followed by minor nobles from around the country of Fire and the neighboring areas. Team Thirteen was locked in a grueling reflex training, with sharp-pointed steel shurikens flying at them from all sides of a thorn-bush filled training ground.

The thorns in the bushes had already reduced to shreds their sandals, the pointy and scratchy tips scratching and wounding their calves and legs. If it was some sort of pain endurance test, then they were actually failing it miserably.

The choice was pretty simple actually: one could dodge the shurikens and end with his foot in a patch of thorns, resulting in a lowered speed and pain, or look where one was putting his feet and end up with steel shurikens embedded in their sides and arms…resulting in pain and possibly death by blood loss.

Their sensei was obviously not aiming at their eyes or any point where a major artery was running, but the risk was there all the same. They didn't know she was actually only throwing one real shuriken every five or six —the rest were just painted wooden ones. Their senses could not tell the difference in weight or speed after all, but Yugao could.

The purpose of the training exercise was simple: to be able to concentrate on two different things at the same time. When they could correctly discern where to place their feet while keeping an eye out on the shurikens, they would have passed their test.

Sai was of course downplaying his abilities, Yugao knew that much. Surprisingly, both Naruto and Sakura were actually quick to catch on, and the boy's wounds weren't even bleeding to begin with —she supposed it had to be another one of those Kyuubi-induced effects on his physique.

Yugao threw one of the last volleys, this time purposefully aiming at Sai at full strength. The pale skinned boy had barely the time to duck and end with most of his upper body against a bush, having squatted down near it. The noise of fabric ripping up made Yugao smirk as she launched the second to last volley straight at Sai once more.

The metal shuriken in the mix of wood ones aimed for the boy's left ankle. It was a low trajectory —there was no way it could actually hurt him in the long run. Sakura was the closest one, and she valiantly took ahead to suffer the brunt of the attack in the stead of her teammate. The metal shuriken did graze her lower leg, but nothing more than a glancing wound that the fabric itself deadened much.

"Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed next, moving closer to his two teammates.

Yugao just smirked and threw again. The space between the shurikens widened, fanning the _apparently_ deadly steel against both Sakura and Sai at the same moment. She actually expected Naruto to choose in the split second remaining before they struck to stand in front of either of his teammates.

She didn't expect him to actually tackle Sai and Sakura to the ground.

The shurikens passed by harmlessly above their heads, and with that Yugao clapped her hands and signaled the end of the training session.

"Very well done," she said. "Now get out of that patch of bushes and over to the side. Anyone needs to be patched up?"

"I'm fine, sensei," Naruto remarked. "I'm not even bleeding."

"Lucky you," Sakura grumbled, wincing as she wobbled her way out of the vegetation. She sat down with a low pitched whine, before taking out a few pieces of gauze and bandages from her jacket's inner pockets. Disinfectant came next, and as the girl began to treat herself, Sai turned his gaze to a hand that was apparently standing a few centimeters from his face.

"Here," Naruto answered. "You've got a bad scratch on your cheek."

"Thank you, Dickless," Sai muttered back, grabbing the disinfectant-filled cotton swab.

"Well then," Yugao moved her right hand in her own Jounin's flak jacket, before removing a few slips of paper. "These are the papers for the exam. All of you must sign and then bring them to me tomorrow. If one of you doesn't participate, then none of you will," the Anbu woman finished handing over the papers, before remarking. "I will see you tomorrow at the Academy's entrance."

Before any of the Genin could say anything, their sensei flickered away.

"Damn it," Sakura cussed slightly. "There goes plan A."

"Cherry? What plan A?" Sai asked.

"Ah, well," sheepishly, Sakura looked downcast. "My parents…they wanted reassurance about the Chuunin exams and my preparation for them. They heard they can be pretty bloody and what-not, and they're afraid for me since Ino's death."

Naruto flinched. He couldn't help it.

"For the last time, Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed having caught on. "It wasn't your fault!"

"Yeah, all right," Naruto nodded slowly back to the pink-haired girl. "So, what's the problem?"

"The problem is…they wanted me to invite the whole team for dinner, sensei included."

"A-Are you sure?" Naruto asked softly. His eyes glazed over for a moment, melancholically displaying a small grimace on his lips.

"Yes, I'm sure," Sakura rolled her eyes. "They're fine with it…and no, you can't bail out! I'm using the teammate card!" she exclaimed pointing her right index finger at Sai. "You've got to help out a teammate, right?"

Sai remained frozen on his spot for a moment, before finally nodding once. "Is a gift required, Cherry?"

"Uh? No," she shook her head strongly. "But please avoid talking about D…d…those things, all right?" she stammered out with a slight blush.

"D?" Sai cocked his head to the side. "D…rawings?"

"Since when do you speak about your drawings!?" Sakura yelled, her meek composure gone in a flash. "I'm talking about dicks!"

"I nearly forgot," Sai said then with the most serious tone. "When did you become so Kinky Cherr—"

"_**SHANNARO**_!"

The fist slammed into Sai's right cheek, sending the boy to barrel and roll back into the bushes in a cloud of dust. "Huff, ah…" Sakura sighed. "Tonight at seven, Naruto," she finished talking to the raven boy. "And no gift needed. Really. Just be prepared to be asked a lot of questions…that's pretty much all."

"All right," Naruto looked up to the sky, the sun already starting to descend. "I'd better hurry home and change then…"

It was in that moment, maybe aided by the fact the sun was in that position, or because she felt too tired to properly think it through, that Sakura did something she hadn't planned on doing.

She kissed Naruto…

…on the cheek.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun!" the next instant, the girl took in Naruto's wide eyes. Those were soon followed by a slight blush on his face. She stood puzzled for a second, before it finally hit her too what she had just done.

Her eyes widened even more. "I…Ah…I think…" she stuttered. "_**Illgohomeandwarnmyparentsseeyasoonthen**_!" she blurted out as fast as she could before running away. Naruto didn't actually understand what the girl had said, but then again he didn't even move from his spot until Sai came out of the thorny bushes, looking visibly scuffled —that meant he was actually quite pissed— and with a slight frown on his face.

"Dickless?"

No answer came back.

"Dickless?"

Still nothing was said.

Sai brought his right hand in front of Naruto, before snapping his fingers directly to the Uzumaki's face. When even that failed to work, he did the only thing he could think of.

"There's ramen behind you."

Naruto twitched, before turning around and finally ending his apparent petrification.

"Ah, right. Yes. Of course…" he muttered and half-stammered. "Have to go. See you tonight Sai. Bye!"

And Sai was left alone, pondering just what had happened in the brief moments he had been busy removing thorns from himself.

That night, Sakura was hurriedly pacing circles in her home's kitchen. She was furiously gnawing at her lips, and then at her nails, and then back to her lips. She was also crunching on some elongated and crusty strips of bread…anything to try and forget what she had done.

It had been the spur of the moment. There hadn't been any secret meaning behind. She had just been thankful for her teammates' decision to help her out in convincing her parents that no, she was not going to her death. Her team was strong, and they were the best. With Naruto and Sai there really was nothing the exam could send their way that they couldn't face.

"Sakura, stop pacing," her mother remarked dryly. "You'll leave a dent in the floor."

"They're won't be late," she blurted out. "They'll probably be on the clock, both of them."

"Uh-uh," Mebuki nodded to herself. She returned to the stove, giving just a passing glance at the clock. She was actually startled when there was a polite knock at the door the split-second the hour-arm of the clock reached the number seven.

"It's them!" excitedly, Sakura literally ran from her spot to the door.

"Sakura! No running!" Mebuki snapped back without any heat in her voice. It had been so long since her daughter had acted that way to begin with…she sighed as she fondly recalled the times when it would be the Yamanaka girl coming around to play with her daughter. Sakura had always been a bundle of energy back then, but she was prone to closing herself off the moment something bad happened. When she was made fun of, she would usually return home and close herself in her room. When she and Ino fought over Sasuke, she ended up not talking to anyone else for one week.

Seeing her jumping on her feet as she made presentations was actually endearing in its own way for her motherly heart.

What mother doesn't wish for her child to be happy to begin with?

Kizashi was actually scowling with his own patented father-trademarked glare at the two boys, who both seemed to be proper gentlemen in their own right.

"Well, dinner's ready!" she cheerfully said just before Kizashi could get a word in to any of her daughter's teammates.

The usual compliments of the cook done, a slightly awkward silence settled in.

Sakura was tense. She looked like a spring ready to jump in an instant, but against who or what, Mebuki had no idea.

It was the moment Sai opened his mouth to say something that a piece of bread hastily concealed in her daughter's palm found its way to the boy's throat. Mebuki's eyes widened at that display of skill, especially when the boy was then subjected to a Heimlich maneuver by the other boy, Naruto.

"Sakura!" Kizashi chided his daughter.

"Sorry," she sheepishly replied. "Just acted on reflex."

"I feel there's a story behind this," Mebuki smiled as she began to crack the ice over the silence. "So, Naruto, how's Sakura doing?

"Ah, well, she's…doing great! Yeah, really! She's Chuunin no doubt!" he quickly stammered out, nodding as fast as he could.

"He's approved," Kizashi took that moment to point out. "He can't lie to save his life. That's always a good quality."

"_Dad_!" Sakura's affronted exclamation was met with Sai quipping in.

"Sakura-san is a proficient kunoichi."

Naruto's breath was taken away.

Sakura locked eyes with Sai as if waiting for the punch-line. Both looked at one another for confirmation they weren't dreaming, before they turned once more to Sai who was sipping water calmly.

"She has become a skilled trap-maker, and will without a doubt provide a solid asset during the exams," he added then.

"I'm dreaming," Sakura muttered. "Sai's acting civil."

"Sakura!" Mebuki chided her. "That's not nice to say. He looks like a proper guy too…are you a musician by hobby perchance, Sai? You have nimble fingers so…"

Sai cocked his head to the side. Sakura tensed. Naruto prepared himself with the hand.

"I draw," he admitted softly. "I enjoy it."

"How nice," Sakura's mother said with a small smile. "Do you have any drawings with you?"

Naruto and Sakura were pinching each other, even as Sai rummaged through the inner pockets of his jacket to take out a small notebook. It was filled with pencil drawings, filled with random things going from trees to animals, passing by normal street views of the city. Mebuki was actually in love with the neat lines and the simplicity.

Kizashi actually let his eyes wander over both the boys his daughter had as teammates. They were both orphans, and while they seemed so different…they actually had the same way of acting. It was as if they didn't wish to intrude, the both of them with their shoulders dropped and their gaze settled on neither his nor Mebuki's face.

He knew that type of reaction. He was an orphan himself, orphaned when the war took away his family after an Iwagakure bombing run near the village he lived, before being transferred to Konoha's orphanage. When they had found out he couldn't use chakra, he had been moved to a civilian school and that had been that. He had become a baker soon afterwards…

He relished the taste of bread after all. It was the first thing he had eaten after they had found him, starved and wounded, beneath the rubble of what once had been his home.

He cheerfully smiled, before saying.

"Now, we should eat before the food gets cold! Nice drawings by the way! Think you can make a portrait?"

Sai nodded —his gaze back on his plate. "Drawing portraits is what I like the most…you can draw anyone, living or not, in them."

Naruto looked at his teammate with a mixture of acknowledgment and longing, before he finally added in his two chosen words.

"You don't have to worry about Sakura, sir," he said then. "We're teammates. We look out for each other. Unless we die, there's no way they'll get to her. Plus, she's the one in the rearguard too!"

Kizashi was touched, and was about to say something when Sai said, his face completely straight.

"I think she enjoys watching our back," he commented thoughtfully. There was a beat of silence. "She's Kinky Cherry like that."

"_**SAI! I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU, SHANNARO!**_" Sakura screamed as she hurled herself across the table with her hands grabbing at the boy's clothes.

And like that the tension was completely broken, as laughter filled the dining room soon afterwards.

Outside the house, watching with a spyglass from a nearby rooftop, Jiraiya sighed as a smile was etched on his face. "She's got the same character as Tsunade," he muttered to himself.

"If you say so, Jiraiya-sama," the female voice near him didn't startle the old shinobi even for a second. He had heard her coming his way since the beginning.

"Keeping an eye out for your team?"

"It is not uncommon for enemy Jounin-sensei to scout the houses of the enemy village in search of Genin competitors from previous exams or who have yet to take part. Naruto's and Sai's current arrangements are satisfactory to defend themselves, but Sakura's civilian family is a risk factor."

"So you're going to be here all nights starting tonight?" Jiraiya whistled in appreciation. "That's dedication."

"Thank you."

"And it's also stupid if you don't tell them personally," he finished. The woman flinched slightly, before replying.

"But the target which is protected without knowing…"

"That's Anbu wording. You're talking about trying to earn their trust…albeit in a convoluted way like this one. Just be honest with them. Tell them the risks straight away or they'll plunge head-on against them." He half-closed his eyes for a moment, as if lost in thought. "And tell them that giving up if things get messy is fine. The way of the shinobi isn't in the honorable death, but in fighting with cunningness and retreating to see another day of battle."

"I will pass along your message, Jiraiya-sama," Yugao nodded, before returning her mask-covered face to the window that gave into the kitchen. Sakura had done pummeling Sai and was now eating in a cheerful way, sharing stories of training from what her lip-reading could tell.

"You had them run tied to one another with manacles for an entire day?" Jiraiya said then, giving her an appraising glance. "Kinky."

"That's what Sai said too," Yugao muttered back, crossing her arms over her chest. "It was just a team building exercise."

Still, since Jiraiya of the Sannin had told her that…maybe she should try and manacle Hayate tomorrow?

She blinked and the old shinobi was gone. Exhaling slowly, she returned to her post with her ration bar. She should have accepted the invitation of her student, but then again…her favorite dinner talk was about how to gut an enemy shinobi without being heard. She doubted they'd stomach it the same way her usual social circles would.

The next morning, the day of the Chuunin Exams came.

The trio was prepared and ready as much as they could be, stood hesitantly in front of their sensei that was waiting for them outside the Academy. She actually looked concerned. Her gaze softened as she straightened their necklines and checked their clothes. Grumbling an affirmative acceptance, she silently passed over to Sakura a bundle of Explosive Tags.

"Use them well," she whispered to the girl winking. "And bring the boys home."

"H-Hai, sensei."

Sai found himself with two vials of a murky green liquid and a pouch filled with herbal pills.

"Standard Anbu poison and Adrenaline pills. No more than two drops to kill…no more than two pills a week."

"Understood."

Yugao then moved to Naruto, and calmly handed him over an Anbu-issued Tanto. "This one served me well. Don't lose it, don't break it, and come back to give it to me personally, understood?"

Naruto nodded firmly, strapping it to his side. It was then he realized there were five heavy military kunais now stashed on his right side, followed by two metal bundles of barbed wires tightly packed in a leather pouch. She had to have placed them on his person while he hadn't been watching…

She was good.

"Go in, third floor," she said finally. "And come back alive. Understood?"

"Yes, sensei!" they chorused, standing to attention for a brief moment.

"And…dismissed," Yugao whispered, remaining there just long enough to watch them go. She disappeared in a flicker the moment Sakura's back left her view, jumping from roof to roof until she finally reached the Jounin lounge. Settling inside, she watched with vivid surprise as Kakashi was apparently standing against a nearby pillar, looking at Asuma Sarutobi with a fully powered glower of rage.

"What happened?" she asked, before realizing Kurenai Yuhi was standing nearby too. She had a piercing and icy glare on her face too…why was everyone glowering at the man in question? Hadn't she a rookie team like hers? Maybe…maybe she had underestimated the competition, hadn't she?

"He stole both of my available Genin," Kakashi grunted out. "And he didn't even see fit to inform me."

"I now have a dysfunctional team that was never tested before and one more Genin who thinks he was passed over because he does not belong to a clan," Kurenai practically hissed. "On paper, I have a tracking team now _apparently_. Inuzuka, Aburame and Hyuga…three clan children, while he," pointing at Asuma, "took Ami from Kakashi to complete the hole in his team when the one-hundred year old Genin refused to participate in the exams."

There was a noise of grounding teeth now. "What's worse," she added growling, "Is that he thought it would be nice to ask for the team changing in private with his father, rather than tell any of us beforehand."

Asuma took a deep drag of his cigarette, before exhaling out a cloud of smoke. "It's not my fault."

"No?" Kakashi moved his head to the side. "Then the Hokage came up with it?"

Asuma did not reply.

"Let's hope this doesn't turn into a bloodbath," Kurenai muttered. "From what little I saw, Kiba is boisterous beyond belief…Shino is distant and calculative but Hinata…"

"You couldn't have done anything," Asuma said. "Hiashi would have made his daughter participate anyway. They're locked in a heated discussion over the succession policy, since he had two daughters and not a single male. Some of the elders are in favor of rebutting the line back to Hizashi's son, which would mean turning a branch house member into a free main house one…"

"Boy the mess it must be," Kakashi remarked as he took out his copy of _Icha-Icha Teacher's Seductions_.

"Oh no, Zugao-sensei, we can't do it here…hush Zakura! We h…" Yugao felt the need to slash the thing apart, for some reason. She resisted, if only because there was no way the thing could actually refer to her.

The micro-transmitter she had placed in her students' clothes began to buzz, as she moved her ear-com tighter in to listen on the conversations they were having.

"You placed a microphone on your team!?" Kurenai exclaimed, making her wince and startling both Asuma who had been lazily smoking, and Kakashi who was currently at the part with the horrible and evil thorn bushes who tore apart the clothes of the skimpy and curvaceous sensei and her equally curvaceous student.

"Sh!" Yugao hissed. "I'm trying to listen!"

"_Gamma-One," _Sakura's voice came through crisp and clear.

"_Acknowledged."_ Sai and Naruto remarked a split-second later.

She took out a small booklet, and checked for the contingency in question. "Harmless Genjutsu?"

"On the second floor, I overheard Kotetsu and Izumo placed something to keep the Genin on their toes," Kakashi pointed out.

"_Sigma-Theta-Six?" _was barely whispered, meaning a Shinobi with training in Taijutsu primarily.

"_Gamma-Nine!"_ Naruto's voice quipped in, seemingly in pain.

"_Negative. Really, you two! I'm sorry Lee, but my heart is already taken."_ Sakura's voice came again. There was a bit of static, she had to admit it, but at least she could…

"_Gamma-Two-Thousand! Gamma Two-Thousand!"_

"_Naruto, stop it. It's immature."_ Sakura's voice was growing annoyed.

"_YOSH!"_ Yugao winced as she removed the earplug from her ear, throwing it on the table as held her throbbing side from the pain of the yell.

"What happened?" Kurenai asked then in worry.

"Gai," Yugao hissed. "His sensei was apparently there."

"Probably went inside to say his last goodbyes…how he expects his student to survive…" Kakashi muttered. "There is a limit to headstrongness."

To Yugao's puzzled gaze, Kakashi eye-smiled before adding. "He has one student whose Chakra pathway is completely screwed up. He has barely enough to dispel a simple Genjutsu…_once_. He passed the academy through Taijutsu and Written tests…but he had to make After-Images rather than _Bunshin_ to pass."

"That is a grievous mistake," Yugao mumbled. "I would never accept him in a team. He is a liability to any moderate Genjutsu user."

"Gai is a special…" and it was in that moment, that a spandex wearing, bright green monstrosity with thick eyebrows dashed inside.

"_**YOSH! HELLO THER**_—"

Yugao disappeared a moment later. Was being a Jounin-sensei what made them strange? She was starting to regret not having remained in Anbu, but then again when the Hokage asks…you just don't refuse.

At the same time as Yugao Uzuki was looking for a place to quietly listen on his students once more, her team was standing in a corner of the ante-room for the examination.

Few people stood in the room, but all those that were there clearly had bypassed the Genjutsu in the hallway without a second glance. Naruto's eyes travelled across the room, scanning for potential threats. The fact the Kyuubi was growling lightly at the back of his head however…it didn't bode well.

"Shukaku…" Kurama murmured. "Interesting." Naruto's throat felt parched suddenly, as a spike of pain erupted through his body forcing him to tense and move backwards against the wall. "I feel it is time I make myself known."

Naruto hissed as his skin began to feel as if someone was actually boiling it. "Concentrate now, Naruto…don't appear _weak_." The Kyuubi mocked him. He felt a pure and unbridled wave of rage and hatred pour through his soul. His first thought was to tear apart Sakura's face that loomed so close to him, but he fought it back down. He wasn't angry at her. He wasn't angry at no-one.

"W-Why?" he choked out barely.

Just as it had come about, it disappeared.

"The seal always takes…I fight it, normally, giving you but a mere trickle. If I wish…I could burst the pipes and give you it all…you would kill everyone nearby, but after all that isn't something that concerns me. No, the reason is…I wanted to get his attention."

"H-His?"

"Naruto? Who are you talking t—"

"You," a red haired boy with the Suna symbol on his forehead walked forward suddenly, his two teammates nervously shadowing him. "What is your name?"

The deep black circles around the boy's azure eyes were nothing compared to the crimson red tattoo with the word 'Love' etched on his forehead. The teen had a gourd strapped to his back, and seemed to be eying him coldly, but with a dangerous glint of interest behind his eyes.

"Who wants to know?" Sakura rebuffed the other boy, moving to stand in front of Naruto.

"Listen girl," the female teammate of the Suna Nin said, "just answer Gaara's question, all right?"

"Temari, shut up," he snapped at the girl, who winced and recoiled as if actually struck. "Your name?"

"Naruto," Naruto's fists clenched as he took a step forward.

"Mother wants your blood," Gaara whispered with a dreamy voice. "And she will have it…"

The doors slid open then, admitting the rest of the Genin who had been kept outside by the Genjutsu. In the middle of the confusion, Gaara snorted and turned to leave. "But not until you learn to fear my name."

"Shukaku…" the Kyuubi's voice whispered with what seemed like genuine _longing_. "You were always the most eager to please our father," he chuckled. "Let us see then…let us see who fares better between _misery_ and _hate_."

And to those words…

The Chuunin Exams began with a scarred man entering the room.

**Author's notes**

**Chuunin Exams begin. I gave you enough fluff. You know, this would feel even awesome if I were to say the Chuunin exams will go precisely as the Manga printed out to be 'Bloody'. You know…the Red Wedding type of bloody. **

**That is to say…**_**Plot Armor Off.**_ _**People are going to die.**_ **Squeamish chapters ensue. Usual Warnings apply.**

**Or I might just be **_**lying**_** and secretly laughing at seeing readers **_**squirm**_**. **

**Ps: I'm sure people realized it, but both Hiraishin learning and Kushina discovery-fate can't be 'uncovered' soon because Anbu keep an eye out on Naruto…and he **_**knows**_** that. Just saying, I haven't forgotten…it's actually there on the forefront of my mind.**


	21. The Bloody Death Test

Introverted

Chapter Twenty-One

There was a moment of silence as the man, Ibiki Morino, snapped off with the rules of his test. Naruto found himself seated next to a Hyuga girl with raven hair and the usual white eyes of the clan, who seemed to be sheepishly fidgeting with her fingers.

"You will answer ten questions, of which the tenth will be revealed at the end. Each of them will grant two points, just as two points will be removed if you are discovered cheating. Once you are discovered five times you will be expelled. These rules will change with the passing of time, and they might become either laxer or stricter as the time goes by." Ibiki smiled savagely, widening his arms.

"You have one hour! Begin!" and with that, Naruto turned to his test. He briefly glanced at the questions and then nearly _gurgled_ in pain. There was no way he could answer any of those. He skimmed to the last one, which simply stated.

_The last question will be available at the forty-fifth minute of the test._

Closing his eyes, he began to quietly drum his right fingers on the wood board, while his left hand went behind his back, fingers crossed and moving as he faked scratching his head.

"_S-O-S?"_ he used the Aoba-code, before returning his gaze to the paper once more. Really, how was he supposed to know what the velocity of a kunai falling from a fourth floor was meant to be? And why did it matter together with the migratory path of ducks?

Five minutes had passed by in silence, before a meek voice whispered next to him.

"N-Naru…Naruto, you c-can…copy from me," the Hyuga stammered out. Did he know her? He supposed he did, wasn't she Hinaba…Hinata! He shook his head. He didn't doubt for a second her whispered words had been heard already by the Chuunin proctors, and he wasn't going to cost his team points. He was sure Sai was going to provide support for this.

Ibiki Morino watched calmly and coldly the Genin who were trying to cheat. He frowned in disgust as he realized many were simply trying to write down whatever they could think of, rather than actually copy. The pink-haired Genin of Konoha, one of Aoba's Genin, was among them. He doubted even for a second that someone could have the answers to those tests. The raven haired boy had instead been drawing on his test with a paint brush.

Really, the only one who had barely done anything had been the raven haired Jinchuuriki. He had used the right hand to mock a Morse code, forcing attention on that hand and the rhythm rather than on his left hand, that had gone behind his back to relay something to his teammates. He didn't take points. The method was sound and difficult to catch.

Aoba had been a colleague. He had a mild way of getting into your head by just talking, and he didn't doubt for a second that his team was going to pass without casualties, at least the first part of the exam. He was actually barely holding himself from erupting with glee. His 'Death Test' had finally been approved for usage. Sure, there were some limitations…but mostly? He was free to have fun.

Ten minutes later, and one of his kunai struck one of the Chuunin he had ordered to disguise as Genin.

It _apparently_ struck the shinobi straight in the jugular, as the Chuunin actually replaced himself with a prepared corpse. A seal array prepared beforehand dropped the body on the ground as blood sprayed out in its place. The red tinted mist of blood shocked those nearby, eliciting a few wide eyed stares of fright and. Many suddenly found themselves on their feet.

"_SIT DOWN!_" Ibiki barked out immediately.

Sakura had both her hands covering her mouth, while Sai remained unfazed and one of the few still seated. Naruto had gone up, kunai in hand. The Jinchuuriki held onto the weapon for a moment more, before begrudgingly taking the seat again.

The rest of the Genin followed with hesitation. It had been one of Konoha's team to be killed, so they didn't know what to expect.

"Team twenty-one, out!" Ibiki then barked the command, as the rest of the Genin assembled simply shuddered, their eyes filled with fear. Team Twenty-One, composed of the fake Genin, actually stood up slowly while doing their best 'scared out of their wits' imitation.

"I was nearly forgetting," Ibiki smirked as he licked his lips. "You all signed a form before entering the exam. If you haven't read it before taking this test, then know this: you are imbeciles. It grants all proctors the ability to make their tests _lethal_. In this case, I have deemed it necessary that once you are discovered cheating I will also attack you _once_. Should you fail to dodge and should you die…that is not my concern."

Naruto ground his teeth as he tried to recall the paper he had given back to his sensei. Yes, there had been a clause about 'potential deaths at the hand of the shinobi participating in the exam', but it hadn't pointed out specifically that the proctors themselves were enabled to kill.

This exam suddenly reached a new level, especially with the fact that rules could change at a _whim of the proctor._

If the man wanted, he could attack those who swore, or spoke, or breathed too heavily. It wasn't a system fair to the one being tested, and yet…he looked to where the Hyuga girl was sitting, her face completely pale and her entire body shuddering. She was scared.

Had she never seen death before taking the exam? He recalled hearing that being a Chuunin didn't actually require having killed before. Still, this test was probably meant to shake out the too-scared-to-think shinobi. They routinely lived with death and fear, and unless they could withstand this pressure…

"This wasn't said before!" a Suna kunoichi exclaimed then. The girl had her blond hair tied in four short pig-tails, and she was nervously holding a small fan with her free left hand. "You said you would take points! You should warn us when you change the rules!"

"The battlefield does not warn you when it changes!" Ibiki snarled back. "Do you think battles are fought with laws strictly placed? In fifteen minutes or fifteen seconds, I might change the rules again! You two, take the body of your comrade and get out of here! The rest…if you want to leave, then say so now! Maybe next year, you will find someone who makes a test with boring and easy-to-follow rules!"

Many teams just upped and left after that, the ones closest to the fake body were especially traumatized, and quite a few who didn't have the guts to go through with cheating soon followed afterwards. Those who had actually managed to get some answers remained however, since they could just stop cheating and simply wait there for the end of the lesson.

Ibiki smiled. He began to twirl a kunai in his right hand as the Suna kunoichi sat back down and began to sweat. He kept his eyes trained on her for a moment more, before deftly throwing the kunai at a Kirigakure Genin who was trying to hastily copy from his neighbor since there was a big enough distraction with people leaving.

The boy's throat was actually slashed with precision by the passing steel projectile. Blood oozed out as he barely held on the wound with his hands pressed against it, before falling on the ground with a dull thud.

"No-one's exempted. I hope you know how to dodge," Ibiki smiled as he gestured for the exit. The two surviving Kiri shinobi actually left without giving a glance back to their teammate. Kiri shinobi weren't known of the 'Bloody Mist' for no reason, and this was pretty tame compared to what they usually went through.

A couple more cracked in the following minutes, as the scent of blood began to fill the air —nobody made a move to remove the corpses after all, be they real or fake.

Naruto watched with fascination as the Hyuga near him seemed to be breathing erratically, actually scared both of bringing her hand up and at the same time of remaining in the room. She was apparently torn and fighting herself over _what_ to do. He didn't know much about the Hyugas, but considering they might be a pretty big clan in Konoha, it was probable she didn't want to look weak.

He shook his head slowly. The girl should have left when the time had come. Never mind the fact he still had to receive any answers back from one of his teammates.

A small slithering of black caught Ibiki's attention, and as he deftly threw one kunai at the strange ink snake, he narrowed his eyes.

He began to look towards the paint-brush wielding Genin. He _knew_ it had been him, but he hadn't caught him on the act yet. So, he waited. Time kept on slowly passing by. He turned to gaze at the Jinchuuriki, who was now writing furiously on his exam paper. He smirked. The snake had been a decoy.

"Very well," he finally said as the teams had dwindled down enough, smirking as he watched all look at him like rabbits caught in a trap. "Now the explosive tags beneath your seats will activate. If you try and _move_ from your seat, in an effort to dodge while I attack you, they will explode. They are directional, so they will only —hopefully— take out you. Of course they are also linked to those of your teammates. So should yours explode, theirs would soon follow."

Kankuro began to sweat. He couldn't leave for the bathroom then. He couldn't copy. Gaara was going to kill him.

He began to mutter prayers as he watched a few of the students raise their hands to surrender again. A shinobi of grass was the first to stand after the proctor nodded to him. The next instant, a twin explosion set off, turning to a bunch of gore and blood his two teammates. The shinobi looked with wide and disbelieving eyes at the pieces of flesh and muscle that once were his friends.

The rest of the class watched with fear, as those who had also raised their hands to surrender quickly brought them down.

"I was forgetting…if you surrender now, then your teammates will still die. Giving up halfway on a battlefield usually means the death of your teammates after all," the grass shinobi screamed incoherently, as he tried to charge ahead at the Chuunin only to be beheaded by the two closest proctors with a swift blow.

There was now blood everywhere, thick and coppery scented. Naruto felt himself becoming incredibly queasier as time passed. If they couldn't surrender, then…

Sakura was in agony. She couldn't believe they were doing this as an examination. She had told her parents it was going to be something easy! She had even dusted off her books and had crammed a few hours of studying in her program too! This…she felt the need to retch, but she couldn't stand…not without making her teammates die.

She clenched her fists and breathed deeply. Steeling her gaze, she watched both Naruto's and Sai's gaze move to her and then to the other. They smiled for a moment, and then nodded. She nodded back with a small smile. There was no way they were going to die here, in an exam.

"The rules will change again and again before the end of the exam, but know this: the last question will either see your entire team leave alive…or fail. Unless you surrender, in which case you walk away, but your teammates die. This is the true face of the shinobi mission Chuunins will have to take! Feel the tension in the air, smell the blood of your fellow Genin! You are no longer children from this moment hence!"

Ibiki then waited. Soon, he watched as teammates turned against teammates in an effort to decide whether they would stay or not. Time passed by with an increasing panic and tension, as a few more, especially from Kirigakure, choose to surrender and let their teammates die. Finally, for the last question, Ibiki took a step forward.

Naruto watched as the Hyuga seemed to tense, before suddenly relaxing.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered with bated breath. "If I die…know that I—"

"Silence!" Ibiki yelled to the room, freezing the girl on her spot. Naruto raised an eyebrow perplexed, before turning to look at what the proctor had to say.

"This last question, it is an all or nothing. If a member of your team does not want to take this question, he or she _may be able_ to leave with her teammates. If you answer correctly, you will pass no matter what your total score was. If you answer wrongly, you will _die_." He licked his lips. "The last time I did this test, not a single Genin who took the question survived."

"I…I giv…urk!" Ami's voice had barely been heard, but was soon muted by Shikamaru's quiet usage of his clan's technique. The Nara wasn't going to risk it. Konoha was based on teammates. It had always been. The way the man had worded the sentence furthermore gave him credit —being able to leave and 'leaving' were different.

A few more Genin decided to leave. He watched as group after group left the room, nothing strange happening to them as they walked through the doors… until in the end they remained considerably less than when they had started…

From the Twenty-Nine teams of Konoha, only Team Five, Eight, Nine, Ten and Thirteen remained. From Suna, there was only one team made of the red-haired guy. From Iwagakure, two teams were currently standing confidently on their seats. From Amegakure, Takigakure, Otogakure and Kusagakure one team each had survived. The majority had either died earlier or was currently being herded off.

From one hundred fifty-three Genin, they were now reduced to barely thirty-six —only twelve teams out of fifty-one.

Thankfully they had not gone to Mist. It had been years since an exam in Mist ended with more than three survivors, out of the one hundred that usually went to take their exams there.

He wondered _why_ his sensei had forced him to accept this, or if he knew of the dangers of the Exams from the very beginning. Death seemed counterproductive, especially when it came to their forces, but maybe it was the examiner himself?

Maybe the ones 'killed' of Konoha hadn't actually been killed. The array might have had some sort of transportation thing inked on it, and that placed the Genin elsewhere. Or maybe they were all false Genin, and in truth his team was the only one truly participating in the exam. Shikamaru sighed as Ibiki clapped his hands together.

"Those of you who have remained! Congratulation!" Ibiki laughed. The man _laughed_ heartily as he began to clap stronger, soon followed by the rest of the proctors. "You have passed the first exam, the Death Test! To test your resolve in face of certain doom, to be a true shinobi! To acquire information, to battle against your fears and your fright! Well done, Shinobi and Kunoichi! Well done!"

Sakura sat there numbly. Next to her, a corpse cleanly dissected in half was still bleeding all over her right shoulder. She hadn't surrendered because she had been frozen in her position, with her eyes wide. What had she done? What were they doing? This was madness. This was utter madness. They were in a room filled with blood and corpses, and people were clapping their hands at them! They were clapping and the one in the middle was laughing!

"You may now stand, the arrays have been deactivated," as soon as the man said that practically everyone stood on their feet, looking at each other and leaving to near his or her teammates. A few of the proctors began to clean away the bodies, while Sakura just stood there, frozen, until a hand settled on her shoulder.

"Cherry," Sai spoke calmly. "Come with me."

"Ah! Ha…Hai," she muttered back half-dazed, gently gripping Sai's arm to get up on her feet. She moved out behind him, reaching for a corner of the room devoid of proctors or other Genin.

Naruto watched with interest as they seemed to be opening a window, probably to let the air change itself. He didn't understand why —he was starting to _like_ the smell. He felt the gaze of Gaara on him, and turned to look once more at the red haired Suna shinobi. They locked eyes.

"Shukaku, the youngest. The last to be born and the one-tail of the desert. Where he goes, misery follows. Be it pain or suffering, the harsh winds and the scorching sand of the desert will provide it." The Kyuubi was gleeful as he spoke. "We turned to glass a village filled with sins once. His sand covered the amoral humans, my fire burned their wicked flesh, and our winds nurtured the flames of purification. It was a pretty thing to watch, and it made the most delicious noise when it broke to _pieces_."

"Excuse me," a voice unfamiliar with Naruto spoke near him, forcing him to turn his gaze towards…a blushing short red haired girl from Kusagakure with crimson eyes. She was wearing a pair of black rimmed glasses, and a brown jacket that didn't at all hide her underlining black shirt. "I wondered…could you help me?"

He watched as the Kusa kunoichi seemed to fidget for a moment, before extending a hand. "I'm Karin, Karin Uzumaki! Do you know where I can find a cheap blacksmith that sells Shinobi supplies?"

She smiled at him. His heart stopped.

This looked too good to be true.

"I'm…I'm Naruto," he replied with a slight smile. "What a coincidence, I'm…an Uzumaki too."

"Really?" Karin's eyes widened. "What was your father's name? Maybe we're three times removed cousins or something!"

"Ah, I…It's my mother," he stammered out. "Kushina, she was called Kushina."

Karin scrunched her face for a moment, before shaking her head. "Nope, haven't heard of her! Well! I didn't know there were any Uzumaki left in Konoha, not after the destruction of Uzushio…many were quite bitter with…"

"Ahem," Sakura coughed, her eyes suddenly getting her sharpness back. "Naruto? Why are you talking with a foreign Kunoichi?"

Sai's ears perked up. He actually was more surprised it was the '_kunoichi'_ part that was a problem to Sakura, and not the '_foreign'_…at least, if body language was of any indication.

"Kusa and Konoha are allies," Karin remarked. "And if this first exam is like this, it's better to have allies than enemies, no?"

"Is this the diplomatic attitude of your country?" Sakura smiled sweetly, venom dripping down her words. She closed her eyes and cocked her head to the side, while within her a raging voice was starting to scream about murdering the bitch.

"Sakura?" Naruto asked perplexed. "She's an Uzumaki like me!" he exclaimed then. "She's family!" Naruto schooled his features a second later. The Kyuubi hadn't been whispering anything about her being filled with evil intentions, but then again it was also the fox's choice on what to tell him or not so…maybe she was lying. Still…

Sakura's eyes softened at those words, only for Karin's face to morph into a light grin. Never before had the crimson-eyed girl thought about it…but she could read their chakra emissions, and since every little bit helped on the long run…

"We're probably, at the very least, cousins thrice-removed," she pointed out. "We could," she blushed, "restart the c—"

"_SHANNARO_!" Sakura screamed, nearly jumping on the red haired girl who faked trembling and hiding behind Naruto's back.

"Sakura?" Naruto asked once more, this time worried. "Are you all right?"

"Th…That! Stop hiding behind him!" the pink-haired girl snarled —a tick mark clearly visible on her forehead.

"He has such a strong back," Karin cooed. Her hands gently touching Naruto's shoulders. "So…stiff, maybe you would need…"

Naruto fidgeted and slightly blushed at such a display of affection, before schooling his features once more. It wouldn't do to lower one's guard around a flirt. It was a common technique used by kunoichi after all, wasn't it?

"Y-You…You…" Sakura's breath began to grow shorter as she seemed to be panting in order to keep her rage in check. "Get your hands away from my teammate, _you whore_!"

"Sakura!" just as Naruto exclaimed that, a figure entered through the window.

A purple haired kunoichi with a fishnet shirt and a brown trench coat smiled, waving her right hand as she held in her mouth a Dango stick. Her scandalous miniskirt was dark brown, and as she boringly began to twirl a kunai, she exclaimed.

"Well then, you the brats who survived?" she smiled as she licked her lips. "My name is Anko Mitarashi! I'll be your proctor for the next part of the exams…I'll cut your numbers down to nine; just you wait and see…"

She turned towards Ibiki, a feral smile on her lips. "You went ballistic, huh?"

"It was fun, I admit," the head of the Torture and Interrogation unit replied. "They were squirming in their seats and a few pissed in their pants too."

"Ah!" Anko sighed melodramatically. "I knew I should have taken the first bout rather than the second!"

The woman gave one more look around, taking in the Genin faces. Suddenly, her eyes glinted dangerously as she licked her lips and began to slowly walk forward. She stopped a few steps away from Sakura, eying her appraisingly up and down.

"Look who's here! My budding apprentice!"

"Uh?" the fact Sakura was the one to actually answer that told volumes about whether the girl knew or not about this.

"I watched the security videos! You're wicked! Didn't think you'd have it in you with your curriculum, but don't worry! The moment you're out of the Genin corps I'll take good care of you!" Anko coyly spoke, blowing a light amount of air on Sakura's ear and turning the girl scarlet.

"Anyway!" the purple haired woman said once more, moving away from the stammering Sakura who was mumbling apologies for some reason to her teammates, "All off to training ground Forty-Four! Follow the leader!"

And she was off. Before Sakura could stammer out anything more than half-stuttered apologies, the rest of the Genin had already begun to run out of the window behind the crazy instructor. Sai just pushed Sakura, and that was the thing the girl needed to start running. Naruto was behind them as they left the room, the proctors grinning like mad the moment the last of the Genin left.

"Anyone found out?" Ibiki remarked, as the _Konohagakure_ Genin teams he had 'killed' suddenly dropped down from their spots on the walls or on the ceiling.

"No," one of them remarked. "We'll be moving to the Training Area Forty-Four then sir, to shadow the teams."

"Do that," Ibiki nodded, watching as the group of Chuunin left once more. The corpses of the enemy's village Genin were all sacked; their blood and bodies would help the research department. "I suppose the Hokage will be happy. "

"It was a nice catch this year, sir," another of the proctors remarked with a small smile. "I remember my own exam. We lost a few too didn't we?"

"Quite a bit," his colleague remarked. "All randomly drawn from the Genin corps. Then again…give so that they may give back in turn, right?"

"Yeah," the first Chuunin shook his head. "Yeah," he added then bitterly.

The forest of Death loomed over the horizon as a giant mixture of plants, venomous creatures and flesh-eating monsters. No Genin could step inside and hope to survive the night. No-one was so mad to try.

Shikamaru hoped against all odds that there was the distinctive chance to renounce the exam before starting the second part. He wanted to stop. He wanted to go in a corner and remain there. The fact the civilian girl, Ami, was completely different from the other old man and was shivering in fright didn't bode well at all.

Chouji had to carry her all the way to the training ground in question, while the girl was screaming in fright every step of the way.

"I don't want to!" she pleaded, as she was finally released on the ground, in the midst of the other Genin who had dutifully followed the proctor.

"Very well! Gather round!" Anko widened her arms as she smirked. "The forest of Death is in front of you! In here, you will spend five days and five nights, you and your teammates, trying to fight for your continued survival! Here are the rules!" she brought up a single purple-colored scroll from her leather jacket. "There are a total of ten scrolls within the forest," she smiled then, looking like some sort of crazy-maniac with a thirst for blood. "To pass, you must gather one of the scrolls per person. You will not be disqualified should one of your teammates die, but you will be disqualified should five day elapse without you obtaining a scroll. You must present yourself to the tower at the center of the training ground at the end of the fifth day, and _not_ _before_! You will scavenge, survive and fight within this forest filled with dangerous beasts, and since there are ten scrolls you will either ally yourself with others or be _mercilessly_ _slaughtered_!" the woman cackled.

"I don't want to participate!" Ami screeched. There were tears running down her cheeks, "Please, I don't—"

Shikamaru saw it coming, but could only widen his eyes as he saw the kunai strike through the girl's right eye, slam in her brain and kill her on the spot as blood oozed out from the wound copiously. He froze and opened his mouth slightly, in shock. Chouji actually let his pack of chips fall on the ground at such a display.

"To give up halfway is death; didn't Ibiki teach you so in the previous exam?" Anko laughed, before letting the Kunai twirl. "Seems like your team will start with only two persons inside," she remarked towards Shikamaru, who nodded numbly. There went his decision to leave…

As well as Ami. The civilian girl had always been a sort-of second rate kunoichi. She was similar to Ino, because she screamed just like her or expected them to do things just like her…yet at the same time she wasn't at all like the Yamanaka. She didn't have any clan jutsu to help her, and in this…_battle royal_, she would have been a weight.

But to kill her? That was…harsh.

"Oh right! I was nearly forgetting this little rule!" Anko exclaimed, catching everyone's attention once more. "You must present yourself in a _three man team_ when you deliver the scrolls, _unless_ you are the _last_ and the _tenth_ one, or you can present yourself in a _four_ man team. So, to recap: ten of you, either three teams of three members and one extra or two teams of three members and one of four. There _is a difference_. No 'five members' or 'eight members' things. There will be Three, Four, Seven, Nine or Ten. Understood!?"

There was silence. Not even the wind could do something against the tension that was now thick in the air.

Naruto and Sai had instinctively moved near Sakura, their hands already on their weapons. The girl too was subconsciously moving her left hand to one of the explosive tags her sensei had gifted her. She had a feeling she was going to use them sooner than later.

"You will be moved to a random gate now —good luck, and hope you die quickly!"

Naruto gave one last look at the Hyuga girl, who seemed to be trying to say something to him but couldn't, before gazing for just a second to another Hyuga boy, who seemed to be pointing his finger at the girl and receiving frowns and shaking heads from the rest of his teammates —a girl with a pair of buns on her head and the guy who had talked with them before and was a Taijutsu expert.

"We must find three scrolls, then wait and move to the tower," Sakura muttered as they stood in front of their gates.

"That is the strategy everyone else is going to adopt," Naruto whispered back.

"Some might prefer to lower the enemies, killing the rest of the teams to look for the scrolls with more ease," Sakura frowned. "We must be careful. They could try and create a double four team…and that would actually stop two other shinobi from participating in the end exam…"

"Meaning that we would have to kill a shinobi from one of the four-man teams," Naruto said. "Chouji and Shikamaru could ally themselves with Kiba's team and one more."

"Team five, or team nine," Sakura stated. "It's pretty clear-cut that way. They are both from Konoha. The only way to fight that would be a nine-man team plus one."

"It's more in depth than what I thought it was," Naruto winced. "It forces you to ally, and at the same time it obliges you to choose who to let pass and who not to: it's not like they can expect to find all ten scrolls after all, and smaller teams cover more area quickly."

"Mobility versus safety versus objective completeness," Sakura retorted. "We should begin by finding three scrolls, hiding them and feigning indifference…but the Hyuga are going to be a bitch."

"Pale eyes can see through walls," Sai quipped in. "Pre-emptive attack or alliance would work."

"So it would depend on which side they are on," Sakura retorted. "They could both go with Shikamaru —he's a Nara, and they're renowned for being smart."

"No," Naruto shook his head. "I read the Hyuga boy's lips. He asked his teammates to attack and kill Hinata's team. They are never going to be allies."

"The older team is a more decisive viability for Shikamaru, if he can get them to work with him and one more team," Sakura mumbled. "We need to find allies."

"Not with Suna," Naruto shook his head. "Whatever happens, we avoid Suna like the plague."

"I still haven't asked you," Sakura said, looking at Naruto with a bit of apprehension. "What's the deal with the red-head boy?"

"Jinchuuriki," Naruto replied quickly. "He's one, just like me…so his power must be off the scales. No fighting him. He's _at least_ on Crap-Seven to be safe."

Sakura nodded thoughtfully. "What about…your 'family'?" the girl snorted. "You agreed to help her, didn't you?"

"After this exam, I think," Naruto replied slowly. "And we could ally ourselves with the older Hyuga team and the Kusa team."

"Why? Because she says she's family? Naruto, you can't trust people like this." Sakura bitterly snarled.

"I'm…I'm not," he widened his eyes, before shaking his head. "But if she is…then I would never forgive myself. And if we can't find enough scrolls, then we might be able to win against them without bloodshed since they're apparently weak."

"Do we fight to kill?" Sai queried. "Even Konoha shinobi?"

"That's the problem, isn't it?" Naruto answered. "We need to verify if they have a scroll before, and only then do we attack. We don't have the Hyuga eyes, so we need one of their teams on our side. And the rest of the shinobi in the other teams…" his voice suddenly grew weak. "Oh shit."

"They are all going to try and get a Hyuga on their team," Sakura paled as she realized that. "They can see through walls and things. They are the apt card to play…and the only way to ensure their help…"

"Is to slaughter the rest of the Konoha teams. If you can't ally with your friends, then your enemies are your only choice…"

"Shit," Sakura cussed. "Shit! Double shit!"

The bell rang to the right of their gate, as the doors of steel slowly opened inwardly. Quickly, they began to run in formation with Sai as the point, the boy drawing a horde of mice on a parchment. With a pulse of chakra, the mice scattered from his parchment to the bushes and trees around them.

"Eyes enabled!" Sai exclaimed, moving backwards and leaving the point to Naruto.

"We move in formation. Head for the river, fill the flasks, retreat and start looking for the Hyuga team," Naruto commented fast. "If we can't find them, we begin our search for the scrolls."

"Understood!" both Sakura and Sai replied.

"Move the radio frequency to channel Nine-Nine-Four, keep communication to a minimum," Naruto ordered once more —sweat already coming down his face as the tension of the situation settled in. With a deft jump, he avoided a nest of poisonous snakes that darted out in answer to the tremor of their running.

"Keep to the undergrowth," he buzzed. "Sai, overwatch from Eyes?"

"Negative."

"We will reach the river by night if we keep up this speed," Sakura commented. "Do we have poisons?"

"Affirmative," Sai remarked. "General adrenaline pills too."

"Guys," Naruto said firmly, his eyes shining ahead with determination. "We can do this."

"Of course," Sakura replied with a small smile.

"Never said no, Dickless," Sai quipped. "But I will to your homosexual advances. Please don't make them."

Naruto groaned. Sakura held her fist clenched but steady. She'd start a tally count. By the time they were out of there, she's deliver the beating of all beatings to Sai.

But not until they were out of there. Not until then, because…

Because they _were_ going to make it, no matter what. They weren't going to die there.

She still had to decide what to do with Naruto after all. She had kissed him on the cheek, and he hadn't said anything about it. Was it a no? A tacit 'let's fake nothing happened'? If something was there however…wouldn't that mean she would have to change teams?

She felt a pair of hands push her to the side, just in time to avoid a leech as big as a giant dog fall down on the spot she would have been a moment before.

"Concentrate now, Cherry," Sai said calmly. "Think porn of me and Naruto later."

She felt heat reach her cheeks as the image just…the images just _appeared_. She wasn't a pervert!

"Sai!" she hissed. She shook her head then, a smile on her face. "I'm making a tally. When this is over…prepare for the check."

This one? She'd count it triple.

Sai just quietly nodded, before resuming his duty. He would have to be careful. He had another mission within the forest after all, one that Danzo-sama had specifically given to him to prove once more his loyalty to Root.

The Hyuga Heiress…_she had to die_.

**Author's notes**

**First test. Second test begins. **

**Blood. Love the blood. Don't you love the blood?**

**And Sakura-Sai banter. Love the banter. **

**I changed the tests…while keeping the tests. I just added death. Death and gore. Blood.**


	22. The Blood of the Leafs

Introverted

Chapter Twenty-Two

Two days had passed since white-masked shinobi had come to take her in an underground complex. She hadn't gone alone: the mutt-face had been there with her all the way. The only ray of sunshine was that Sasuke-kun had also joined them beneath the ground. She smiled as she checked her hair and adjusted her kunoichi vest to show just a bit more of skin around her arms —her chest had still to grow, there was no way she'd convince the last of the Uchiha with her flatness.

It had been two days. The Chuunin exams had already begun, and yet no reason had been forthcoming on why they had been taken in the dead of the night and brought deep in some unknown place. They had even sedated her, telling her to bring enough clothes to last for an entire month.

It was as she entered the common area that separated her room from that of Kiba that she realized there no longer was only the mutt and Sasuke-kun in the common room. There were three Kusagakure ninjas too, all three apparently looking at one another with a surprised look. They seemed to be ranting and pointing their fingers at a group of Jounin that was now settled in a corner, all sporting Konoha forehead protectors and wearing either white masks or Anbu ones.

Two Jounin were speaking to the trio of Kusagakure Genin, of which one was a Sunagakure shinobi with half his face masked by a cloth, while the other seemed like a thin and gaunt looking man.

"Quiet!" the masked Jounin said once more. "You should be thankful Konoha took the effort to safeguard yourself from an S-rank shinobi such as Orochimaru of the Sannin!"

"I thought I was done for!" one of the Kusagakure shinobi remarked. "Still, it was no way of treating us allies! Sacked and pulled Kami knew where! Really!"

"It does not matter at all, Takao," one of the Kusagakure's Jounin retorted calmly. "Would you have preferred death, to a moment of discomfort? Nearly all teams were failed specifically because of the risk there was. We Jounins were all together in this decision."

"Sensei, but then why did they let Karin's team pass?"

"Takao, Karin is a sensor and her Jounin volunteered her for this. She will be useful to our allies of Konoha. Furthermore, the training ground is being shadowed by as many Jounin and Anbus as there can be. Some of your teammates' Jounin have taken the task of alerting our own village and send reinforcements. We were forewarned only a few hours ago ourselves, and so the message will have to be delivered as quickly as possible. We do not know when Orochimaru will strike, but he is not an S-rank threat for just any reason!"

"Sunagakure's shinobi army," here it was the half masked-man who spoke, "Will make haste to reach Konoha in time too and provide assistance to our allies. Should Orochimaru's objectives be concluded, there would without a doubt be another war! Think about this, you insolent whelps! Do you have any idea what a war means!? It means senseless death! So be thankful you were transported here, rather than be blown to bits! And be thankful they had the Fuinjutsu knowledge to do so!"

The three Kusagakure ninjas looked properly chastised, before the kunoichi of the trio softly whispered.

"Why are we here, sensei?"

"Ah," the Kusagakure Jounin spoke then. "For cooperation with Konoha. We will be trying a new training regime with one of their teams. You were just lucky to be chosen first. They did manage to get you out of the room quickly after all."

The kunoichi sniffled slightly, before nodding. "It was…horrible."

"It was nothing more than a test. One that you failed by surrendering," the Jounin snapped back. "I am ashamed to admit I hoped you would not. The Genin of nowadays…there were only _twelve_ deaths in the end, three of which were _yours_ while the real ones were of Kiri with a few from Ame. The first one was even _faked_ by Konoha to get the game started." The Jounin's tone was of disapproval. "I saw more death during my own chuunin exam in Iwagakure, in the Caves of Gnawing Death."

"We're sorry sensei," the kunoichi whispered. "We'll do better next time!"

"I hope so!" the Jounin barked back angrily. "I truly hope so."

Ami stopped giving attention to the scene, slowly making her way to the corner where Sasuke was looking with murder in his eyes towards the three Kusagakure Genin. He had his right arm in a cast, and his left clutched a walking stick. The last Uchiha was probably seizing the other Genin, and Ami couldn't help but swoon over the way the dark and raven boy watched everyone with keen eyes.

He seemed to smile as she walked closer, and her heart skipped a beat. "Sasuke-kun?" she said with a slight hope, "How do you feel today?"

"Hn," he grunted back at her. "Where's the mutt?" he snapped. "Bragging to another weakling?"

"Ah…I don't know," she coyly said, bringing her arms behind her back and letting her left leg behind her right one. She tried her best shy approach as she whispered softly; she tried to bring emphasis to her lips and curves as she spoke. "Would…would you like to eat something with me?"

"I already ate," Sasuke replied rolling his beautiful dark eyes, before wobbling away and leaving her to clasp her hands together and sigh in a dreamy-like state. He really was a dark and broody prince who just needed someone to melt his heart. Today he had spoken more to her than in the entire month before…it was progress!

She was going to show that Sakura who, in the end, was going to win over Sasuke-kun's heart.

It was then that she saw the smiling face of the Konoha Chuunin, Kabuto Yakushi. She was going to ask him counsel…he had such bright ideas about excellent spots for dates after all!

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura were both standing near a water-sphere that floated gently in the middle of a wide circular room. Inoichi Yamanaka was 'manning' the long-distance thought communicator, as hurrying Chuunins and a few Anbu moved around frenetically.

"We have confirmation for Genin Karin Uzumaki. She is from Kusa," an Anbu remarked. "We can take her out of the list."

"Operative Wolf was taken 'out of persona' by Operative Snake. It is implied the correct exchange of signals was given. Team Eight is to be guided towards Bait Area Gamma," a Jounin said then, a map of the training ground opened on the table. "They are not on the list."

"Have Shadow-Stalkers Five and Six take care that," Hiruzen said quickly. "Danzo, what of Root?"

"Operatives are in the know," the bandaged shinobi remarked. "Ink-Pot has been warned. What of…" the Yami of Shinobi sighed in exasperation. "What of Super-Pervert?"

"He's in position at the tower," Hiruzen answered calmly. "If Orochimaru will strike, he will be ready to intervene."

"Good," Danzo acquiesced. "Control-Tower, report on Jounin status."

"The Suna Jounin is headed towards Sunagakure unhindered," Inoichi remarked. "The duds have encountered hostilities from missing-Nin from Kiri and Ame. The Kusa Jounin…" the head of the Yamanaka clan frowned. "He has stopped. Duds are converging…his escort blinked off the radar," Inoichi whispered. "They term— no, it's back. Wait a moment," Inoichi made a hand gesture. "Understood. They encountered hostiles but terminated them. One knocked him unconscious for a moment. He will continue as planned."

Hiruzen sighed out the breath of relief. Everything was going according to plan.

Orochimaru would not be granted permission to take Naruto out of the village, nor of freeing the Kyuubi within. The death toll would be catastrophic, and if it happened in the middle of the shinobi exams…the public loss of support from the Daimyo's court would be unprecedented.

They would not be pulling punches. The enemy could be anyone. Orochimaru was an S-rank threat, something akin to a Kage, a one-man army…and because of that the entire village had mobilized as if they were on a war-period.

"The Genin will not be shipped out from Root for an entire month," Danzo sighed. "More food will be needed. The "

"Thankfully you have a shop as a front for your little 'complex'," Hiruzen dryly remarked. "I was surprised when Tsubaki told me."

"I was even more surprised when I nearly killed her," Danzo muttered back. "To think Naruto stepped in a moment after…you were lucky. You could have told me who you would be sending. I had to assume she was in league with Mizuki coming for revenge and was blackmailing me."

"You are not convincing anyone, Danzo," Hiruzen rolled his eyes, taking one more puff of smoke. "But it hardly matters. You are not curious as to how I knew?"

"It was hardly a secret back in the days it was constructed. I just dug deeper and further away, you followed the bread crumps I suppose."

"In more ways than one," Hiruzen chuckled.

"To think you would uproot the darkness," Danzo lowered his gaze to the water sphere, which now showed Naruto currently taking the bark of a tree to make some small splinters. He couldn't help but smile. "Smart boy."

"Sawdust?" Hiruzen replied, looking at the image. "Is he making a Konoha tube?"

"I taught him the trick. A wooden cylinder carved from a tree, filled with saw dust and then sparked with a bit of coal within," Danzo was actually chatty, for once. "Nearly no chakra required. It detonates on contact if done properly. Otherwise it combusts and sparks."

"Poor forest," Hiruzen chuckled. "Move to sector A-Nine," the Sandaime ordered to the one operating the water sphere, which suddenly changed to display Neji Hyuga.

"This could be one of Orochimaru's peripheral targets," the third Hokage spoke calmly. "His team checks out?"

"Yosh!" the green-spandex wearing Jounin exclaimed, from his corner of the room. "I personally checked them before the start of the exam, Hokage-sama! And no-one can copy my Lee's Fire of Youth!"

"All right," the old shinobi brought his right hand to his forehead, before ordering another change of imagery. "What of Hinata Hyuga?"

"She's safe," the Anbu-Taichou remarked from his spot, his back against a wall. "Tenzo is with her. He will do his best to remain in close proximity with the Jinchuuriki. He will provide assistance should it be needed."

"He was the only one that could fool the Byakugan after all," Hiruzen remarked. "Hopefully, he will not slip during the five days."

"He is a trained operative of Anbu," the Taichou seemed affronted as he spoke. "_Anbu do not slip_."

"For our own safety," Hiruzen said, "I hope so too."

Danzo, meanwhile, remained quiet…

He had known from the very moment he had ordered Sai's mission after all.

It was long due time…

Naruto's test would truly begin in the middle of the Forest, where no-one could help him. What would he do then? He couldn't help but smile slightly. Would he kill his friend, completing the emotion-deadening training? Or would he not and thus watch as Sai killed the entire team of Konoha ninjas the Hyuga Heiress belonged to? In both cases, he would win. With the heir-problem already destabilized, he would slither closer to the other boy, and offer his help in claiming the right to become of the Main Branch.

From there, he would add the Hyuga to his list of clans below his very banner…and that would make all the difference on the long run.

Still, he watched once more the water sphere morph.

"We have a breach in sector Beta-Seven," Inoichi said quickly. "Orochimaru has entered! There are five clones of him!"

"Have the teams on stand-by!" Hiruzen barked. "Where is he headed!?"

"One Orochimaru per Hyuga, Hokage-sama! One on team Thirteen and two more are headed towards the tower itself!"

"The two headed to the towers are clones, possibly to distract us. Dangerous, but not the true problem. So he either went to one of the Hyuga or to Naruto…" biting on his pipe, Hiruzen finally gave a single curt nod. "Begin Operation Mongoose."

An Anbu gave a small look to another one, just for a single instant. The moment the two Anbu's eyes met there was an acknowledging look.

No-one else dared to even _think_ about it. The Sandaime had _personally named_ the operation after all…and Danzo simply remained quiet.

As silence and tension crept through the operative room deeply rooted within the bowels of the Root headquarters, at the same time three Genin were currently setting up camp for the night.

Their faces were covered in mud. Their clothes garnished with leaves and dirty branches. They were squatted down on one of the highest available branches —one of the thickest, that could easily rival an apartment's width. It even seemed bigger than Naruto's one-room apartment to boot.

The sun was dying over the horizon, and no contact had been done with any team. It suited them just fine. Sai carefully drew a few more mice, letting the ink dry as he carefully tucked the prepared parchment away. He began to paint on the side of the tree, creating what looked like a lion on the trunk, with its paws both raised to one side and the mouth opened, as if to fire flames.

"Tonight's dinner: rations," Sakura muttered awkwardly as she handed over the small sticky bars that tasted like a mixture of cardboard and mud. "Joy."

"You stole my comment, Cherry," Sai answered calmly. He ate his own ration in two quick gulps, swallowing it down with three careful sips of water. "First watch is mine."

"I'll take second," Naruto said back. "You caught the…food from the river, Sakura," he added watching the strange-looking black fish. "You get sleep first."

"I don't know how to cook it," she replied awkwardly. "I don't even _think_ it's edible."

"It isn't," Sai said. "It's venomous. We can use his teeth as darts however."

"The fish…has teeth?" Naruto mumbled shaking his head. "I'm turning in for the night. Night Sai, Sakura."

"Night, Dickless. Cherry, keep your hands away from his butt," Sai deadpanned a moment later. "Yes, I know you wanted to touch it."

"Is this…a snide remark because I stole your…comment?" Sakura asked perplexed.

"Yes," Sai acquiesced with a surprisingly serious nod. "Does it work?"

"No, you fail horribly at it," Sakura sighed as she moved closer to the trunk. "Good night, Sai."

Sai just stood there numbly for a moment more, before narrowing his eyes and slowing down his breath. His eyes travelled to the surroundings of their 'camp'. Steel wire and shuriken launchers had been placed by Sakura, and a few precious Explosive tags lined the spots only a shinobi could reach. Thin looking strips of paper flung harmlessly from the branches around them, painted black to better hide during the night.

Nodding to himself, he jumped back, grabbed the bed-cover and used it to hide all three of them with the E-rank jutsu needed to pass off as harmless bark.

The other two teammates of his breathed slowly, forcing their bodies to slow down and then fall asleep. Their lives were in his hands. Never mind the fact he knew the previous test had been false, something used only to fool those remaining. The exams would increase tension, but nobody sane of his mind would outright kill all the Genin participating. One or two 'choice' pieces could be scuttled away…but nearly the entire participating force?

He supposed his orders tied directly to that. He had to kill the Hyuga heiress and acquire the Byakugan eyes from her body. He couldn't do it during the day…but if he managed to get his team to cooperate with another and face off the youngest one a 'fight mishap' could always happen. He flinched as he heard a branch rustle slightly.

Sure, it could have been anything from a snake to a spider, passing for one of his ink mice making a noise more…but then he felt it, the slight drain on his chakra coming less. One of his ink mice had been destroyed.

He froze as he heard a slight dry chuckle rise in the fresh night air.

He couldn't see, but he knew the feeling of bloodlust. He felt his very skin crawl and shiver, and even with his emotions nearly deadened…fear, pure and unabashed fear ran through his entire body making his heart beat painfully fast.

"Tell me a story, little mouse, while I feast on your entrails. I am the snake that devours your kin. I am the eyes that look at you from the night's cloak. I am your predator…and you, you are my prey."

Golden eyes slowly appeared from the very _bark_ of the tree's branch. A pale skinned shinobi with long raven hair and a Jounin flak-jacket smiled wickedly as it licked its lips.

He wasn't an enemy shinobi.

Danzo-sama had told him a clash with Orochimaru would be possible. That the case, he had to ensure the Snake Sannin did not reveal to Naruto _the truth_ —whatever it was, he didn't know.

"_I can see you_," Orochimaru took a single step forward, with practiced ease. The thin wire of steel was voluntarily pushed down, that much Sai had no doubt about it. Suddenly, needles and kunai flew in the air hitting the branch and the shinobi in question. The Snake Sannin didn't even bother to dodge, letting the projectile of steel wound him as thick brown blood began to ooze out.

"_I have found you,"_ it smiled one last time…before disappearing into a cracked form of mud and dirt.

It had been a bunshin. A Doton Bunshin but still…why did Orochimaru not attack?

Sai didn't know. He wasn't even startled when Naruto's voice cut in from his side.

"Sai? Who was that man?" the trap had to have woken up Naruto and Sakura clearly, as both were now tense and still at his side. "A Jounin?"

"Orochimaru," Sai whispered. "Orochimaru of the Sannin…he's after us."

"Shit!" Sakura cussed, standing up immediately. "We have to leave for the tower!"

"Wait!" Naruto snapped back, grabbing the girl by the wrist and pinning her back down. He managed just in time as a giant gale of wind slammed against the bark, tearing apart a chunk as wide as a human body from it. Splinters and sawdust covered the trio, as they jumped the next moment up in formation, reaching for the top of tree as a volley of Kunai rigged with explosive tags detonated behind them.

Sai pressed his hands in the chakra technique to activate the Ink lion behind them, which roared and sprouted fire from his mouth against a container filled with alcohol and bits of rags. The explosion brought the flames to fall on the bushes beneath, lighting up a fire soaked by petrol and oil that quickly spread granting light.

Sakura narrowed her eyes, throwing a volley of shurikens against a glinting light to the team's left. The flying projectiles hit a metallic arm, as an Amegakure shinobi emerged from the thick leafy branches. Exhaling, the Genin literally delivered a noxious purple fume their way.

A quick hand-sign of Naruto however, and from one of his pouches came undone the barbed wire. Using it as a whip, letting chakra run through its entire body to straighten it, he lashed at the throat. As another Amegakure shinobi came from behind Naruto, kunai in hand to backstab the dark haired teen in mid-air. Sakura spun her body around and threw one of the explosive tags at the incoming poisonous cloud.

Sai formed three Ink Needles, before hitting with deadly precision the backstabber's eyes and making the shinobi scream as his eyes were mercilessly ravaged by the chakra infused ink.

Naruto's left arm swatted away the attack, before his feet landed him on the branch of a nearby tree, with Sakura and Sai to his side. The barbed wire had dug deeply into his right hand, but as he pulled it back he was met with a satisfying sound of skin being ripped.

The fumes of the fire and the smoke delivered a hellish scene as the first Genin from Amegakure had its throat ripped apart with blood gushing out like a fountain.

The barbed wire quickly was recoiled, sweat trickling down Naruto's brow as the head began to make itself known.

"Where's their third member?" Sakura asked, looking around.

Sai grabbed his Tanto with the blade downwards, holding it with both his hands. "Incoming shinobi from five o'clock!"

"Scatter and Counter-Ambush!" Naruto barked as he jumped in the air. "**The night is young! Let us feast with the blood of the wicked!"** the teen roared as he flung three kunai at an incoming figure. Blood rushed to his head as he felt the satisfying sensation of power coursing through his vein. The Kirigakure shinobi had probably been allied with the Amegakure ones.

There were after all two figures, and not only the one that Naruto had seen.

Cackling madly, he let the clawed gauntlet of the Kirigakure shinobi slash at his shoulder, as white mist rolled in to deaden his view…but his view was already blinded by _bloodlust_ itself.

Sakura watched from an upper branch as Naruto battled two shinobi by himself, taking wounds that healed within moments. It was his face however, that made her heart stop for a beat. It was cackling with glee as if he enjoyed wounding and being wounded.

The Yoroi Tanto pierced the metal gauntlet of the Kiri shinobi just as the surviving Amegakure one exhaled poison once more. She jumped back up the tree bark, avoiding the jumping attack of her own enemy: a Kiri kunoichi with flowing brown hair.

Ice needles materialized from her very palms, as Sakura's eyes widened in fright.

"BETA-TWO-FIVE!" she yelled out, three explosive tags flung forward with speed detonated then, giving her enough of a wide berth to make another jump and close in with Sai.

The pale skinned shinobi nodded from his spot. A Bloodline user, one with Chakra element Two and Five together to form ice. Probably a Yukigakure shinobi emigrated to Kiri…but wasn't Kiri under the bloodline purges?

Sai's own opponent was the third Kiri shinobi, this one wielding not only a clawed hand like the one fighting Naruto, but also holding on to a bladed chain with said gauntlet and whipping it against him as fast as he could.

He ducked down deftly avoiding the blade and watching it sink in the bark of the tree behind him. He charged ahead without even blinking, Tanto ready to pierce. Sakura was behind him even as the opponent seemed to smirk and retract the chain with strength. His teammate spun around Kunai in hand, parrying the chain's return momentum and swatting it away.

The smirk of the Kiri shinobi was short lived, as his Tanto plunged in deeply into the enemy's chest straight between the ribs and to the heart.

Sakura came next from his right side, puncturing the opponent's carotid artery before he could even react and damaging the spine as she brought her kunai to slice through the neck side all the way to his back. Fluidly, Sai removed the Tanto from the enemy shinobi and began to run once more, this time slightly behind Sakura who was making a turn on a few branches to catapult her body back in the fray.

"Sitrep?" Sai quipped as they flew back down to where Naruto was still fighting, bleeding heavily but not relenting as his glee-filled face was now carving deep bites on torn chest of the screaming Kirigakure shinobi remaining. The Amegakure one had lost its right leg, and the left arm sported broken splinters of bone that had apparently…been chewed upon.

"In control," Sakura replied calmly as she gracefully landed behind the last remaining enemy.

The Kirigakure Kunoichi was barraging with ice needles the back of Naruto, who seemed to not even be feeling them pierce his skin even though blood seemed to ooze out of his every wound.

"Stop it! STOP IT!" the kunoichi outright _screamed_ as she collapsed on her knees in tears, "Please! _We surrender_! Stop it please!"

Sakura looked to Sai as she gestured with her head to the hyperventilating kunoichi. With a nod, Sai slowly walked forward Tanto in hand.

"Naruto! Enough!" Sakura barked, taking a step forward as Sai kept his Tanto trained on the Kunoichi's neck. "Stop this instant!"

There was a sickening crunch as Naruto's mouth snapped a rib of the now…_hopefully_ dead Kirigakure shinobi. Sakura felt sick. Naruto had been literally _feasting_ on the entrails of a living shinobi. What the hell was going on?

She remembered him doing the very same thing once before, during their mission near the border of Kirigakure.

"I remember," he growled threateningly. "I smelt their thoughts before," he hissed. His eyes narrowed on the kunoichi. "_Who are you_?"

Sakura took a step back, her hand clenching tightly on the hilt of one of her kunai. She wasn't afraid of Naruto, for Kami's sake!

"Naruto!" she snapped back at him. "Snap out of it!"

His eyes narrowed on her for an instant, and in that moment she saw it…the red iris of the crimson beast, the malice pooled from thousands of years of humanity's existence. She saw the hatred, the anger, the rage…and she collapsed down on the ground just like the Kiri kunoichi. That…

_That wasn't Naruto_.

Not-Naruto took a step forward, and then another. He staggered for a moment as a small white fog slowly appeared from his wounds —vaporized chakra, vaporized _healing_ chakra. His wounds closed as Naruto's accusing finger went to the kunoichi in question.

"You…tell me their names."

"Gozu and Meizu," she stammered out in fear. "They're Chuunin from Kiri. They forced me to participate with them! I didn't want to but—"

"Your name," he snarled. "What is your name?"

"I'm…I'm Haku. I'm a Genin! Really! I didn't want to but my sensei was forced, and Kiri's not—"

"Silence!" he growled. "Did they…did they ever go to the border on missions?"

"W-What?"

"Answer my question!"

"I don't know! Please, I'll do anything as long as you let me leave!" Haku pleaded visibly frightened. "You can have my body if you want to! I…_I just want to live_!"

"Urgh," Naruto mumbled, wincing as his eyes slowly receded back to the bright cerulean blue that was his normal gaze.

"Fine," he whispered, his throat cracking. "Leave and don't turn back."

Sai raised an eyebrow, before slowly letting the Tanto go from the girl's neck. The Kunoichi smiled briefly, before jumping away and disappearing into the thick branches.

"I don't feel well," he muttered then, falling down on his knees. Suddenly, he began to puke out vivid crimson fluids, bits and pieces of flesh and white fragments of bone.

Sakura just stared at the scene dumbly for a moment more, before slowly getting back on her feet and walking closer to him. She didn't say a word. She just held his shoulders as he retched and felt beneath her fingers Naruto's muscles trembling from fear. Fear not of what he had _done_…but of what he _was_.

Sai looked around a moment more, before finally saying.

"We should move before the fire spreads to our location."

"Did they have scrolls?" Sakura asked in a whisper. "Supplies?"

"I'll check," Sai murmured, before heading off. Sakura turned her gaze back to Naruto, and to his hands clenching on…

"Naruto! Let go!" she exclaimed shocked, grabbing hold of his right hand and slowly prying open his fingers. The barbed wire that should have been used as a defense system…he had unclasped a bundle to use as some sort of whip but…he had held onto it so tightly it had dug in on his palm. "This is going to hurt," Sakura whispered biting her lip, as she firmly held with a thick cloth onto the metallic wire. Naruto was already sweating, but nodded once.

She pulled with strength. Naruto didn't scream, but simply blanched out before vapors of chakra slowly healed his palm once more. This time, Sakura watched with fascination as tiny sparks of red chakra touched the raw skin and the muscle itself, knitting everything back to how it was and closing it without the slightest moment of wait.

"The Kyuubi's and I…" Naruto murmured —his throat coarse. "We…we don't see eye to eye mostly…and I understand him. I think I'd be pissed off too at being imprisoned when innocent," he closed his eyes. "But this…I hate this, but he's…he's strong and I need him." A sob escape Naruto's throat. "I'm no better than a monster, feeding on human flesh like this…instinct he calls it…to feast on the wicked. I…I don't like it. I never wanted this. He never wanted this either. There are moments…where I wish I simply had not to carry this burden."

Sakura waited, still holding onto Naruto's shoulders as he watched the boy, the boy of twelve of her very same age, tremble and shudder because of what he held on his shoulders. She didn't know how she would fare against the Kyuubi within her. Would she too eat enemy shinobi? Would she too vomit their flesh?

She didn't want to know.

So she just hugged Naruto tighter, hoping Sai would be quick and everything would turn out well.

They had survived…and two teams were down already.

Sai came back a moment later, holding onto a purple scroll. There was the Kanji for Victory written on it, and it was closed with a thick stamp of wax, probably to prevent tampering with the contents.

"We have to move," this time, Sai's words carried urgency. "We have a scroll. There is light and noise. Recons might arrive any moment."

"Naruto, can you run?" Sakura asked to her teammate, who nodded numbly. Stumbling back on his feet, he took a few more steps away from the pool of his bloody vomit and the corpses he had half-eaten, before jumping for the nearest branch.

Sai and Sakura followed him a moment later, and as they left for a safer area to sleep to…a thought crossed his mind.

If Orochimaru had been there, near them…why hadn't he attacked? Wasn't he after the Kyuubi?

In the depths of the Root base, now temporary headquarter for a 'secret' training between three Kusa Genin and three Konoha Genin, a Medic chuunin hired to oversee the entire program knocked thrice on the door to one of the Genin's rooms.

"Uchiha-san? We need to talk…" And Kabuto's smile…it was just _perfect_.

**Author's notes**

**Total Deaths First Exam: 5 Kiri shinobi, shipped to R&D department. 2 Ame Shinobi. Total: 7.**

**Fake Deaths: Majority of Konoha Teams. First three Kusa ninja. Ami (Anbu plant to watch over Asuma team)**

**People who Gave Up the Exam and Did Not Die because They Left: All the rest of 153 except 36 who went for the Second Exam, and the seven dead. (Thus 110 left the **_**first exam**_** of Konoha alive)**

**Since First Exam-second exam is done immediately, there is no need to keep the death 'fake' for long. Hence no backslash. Seven deaths are **_**acceptable**_**.**

**Total Deaths Second Exams: 3 Ame shinobi (Amegakure Team), 2 Kiri Shinobi (Good chunk of Kiri team). Remaining: 31 Shinobi.**

**Expected Canon compliant teams remaining: Three. (Nine+1=10 . I'm being **_**generous**_**!)**

**This is to say that Allied Countries Did not lose Genin teams to death. There was a misconception on the numbers of casualties…which I think I should correct. What follows is how 'Kishi' did it.**

**Extra Data from **_**CANON**_**: **

**First exam: he passed fourteen teams **_**at least**_** (Seven teams finished, so at least Fourteen began) meaning 42 shinobi.**

**Canon Second Exam killed certainly: Nine. (Orochimaru + Gaara + Leeches, lethal combo)**

**Expected result was of Three Teams passing, (Seven was considered Twice the normal amount) End result? Yes, Canon Kishimoto **_**implied**_** the death of every other team except three in a potentially lethal area. Now, assuming the Konoha teams did not kill their opponents, and considering the Oto team still reached the finals after giving their scroll to Sasuke…**

**Oto Killed **_**two**_** other teams at the very **_**least**_**. Meaning the death toll of the second exam was of at least 9+6=15.**

**And Kabuto doesn't smell like one who wouldn't kill a team too. So 18 deaths…**_**at a minimum**_**. Meaning Six teams. Six teams Died **_**completely**_** in the Exams. **

**You realize… I was being **_**generous in the first exam**_**…**

**Of course Canon is filled with glaring plotholes of Titanic Proportions. But at the moment, no matter how much I rant on blood and gore…**

_**Canon is still beating me in death count. Damn it.**_

_**To reiterate: the Pointless Death of Allied Shinobi and Ami was not the truth, if not for the psychological enhancement of pressure for the next part of the test. Secondly, there still are deaths among non-allied shinobi without backslash because they expect them, as Canon itself tells. The way I wrote stated clearly that in the end only a few Kiri shinobi chose to surrender during the second part of the exam, and since the three Kusa Genin were spared, it is clear that the only deaths that truly happened were against people who 'acted like scum' against their teammates. And those who cheated in the first part actually stopped cheating after the first death, meaning...yes, precisely, many more (Not of Konoha since those faked their cheating and death) caved in due to pressure. 'Kill one to spare a hundred'. This Ibiki actually made a double favor: he ensued less teams than canon to participate in the exams and he reduced the presence of 'plant-risks' to those who actually survived it.**_

_**...me, doing pointless deaths. Tsk. Nice catch on those who realized there was something amiss, though.**_

_**PS: (yes, there was a moment a la prince of Persia The Two Thrones for Naruto in here. I blame the music I was listening.)**_


	23. The Blood of Unwashed Sins

Introverted

Chapter Twenty-Three

Sakura lowered herself in the small crevice of rocks, her hands grasping at the hem of a scroll. She was held by her thighs by Naruto, who remained in quiet concentration. With a final stretch of effort, while gritting her teeth, she managed to grasp at the third and final scroll they needed to pass.

With a sigh of relief, she signaled the all-clear and was hastily pulled up by her teammate. Sai gave one last look around the area, before finally coming near his two teammates.

"No opposition," he remarked dryly. "Hyuga must have found the other scrolls." He calmly dispelled the ink mice that were surrounding them, letting the ink re-pool into his inkpot. With a deft movement of his paint-brush, he began to paint once more on another map.

"We can safely assume," he displayed the map of the training ground, drawn as they went. "That the scrolls were placed in a circular pattern around the tower. Five making a pentagram of the outer rings and five closer."

Sakura nodded, before her eyes began to quickly scan the painting. "We should find a safe place to hide. What's the range of the Hyuga eyes anyway?"

"Konoha-secret," Sai quipped back. "We might be in their range for all that we know."

"Having three scrolls means that the possible eight-team of Shika is going to come for us," Sakura bit her lower lip as she spoke. "That is, if they have a Hyuga."

"Unless he cuts off Chouji," Naruto whispered, "or himself. In that case, he can aim for a ten scroll party."

"Yeah, disqualification will probably sound good to him now," Sakura muttered. "After Ami's death…she didn't deserve that."

"Nobody deserves that…the exam is so fucked up it isn't even sane any more. Still…" Naruto tensed. "Sigma-Three!"

As one man, Naruto dashed forward soon followed by both Sakura and Sai. The spot they had been before erupted in spikes of earth and thick rock lances that formed a deadly skewering trap. Three kunai flew in the air, explosive tags attached to them and detonating in the front of Naruto's team direction. Dodging to the side, team thirteen found his road blocked by a buzzing alcove of bees and bugs.

The monstrous swarms fell upon them in an instant. Sakura whipped out two explosive tags of her dwindling stockpile and threw them on the ground, letting them detonating and disorienting the vermin long enough for Sai to paint a _wave_ of ink on his parchment.

The ink wave erupted from the paper, drowning the incoming insects. Naruto's right arm came up, deflecting five poison-coated needles that struck deeply into his flesh. He didn't as much as scream as he clenched his hand and soared forward with a volley of kunai of his own. They made contact with the opponent's, and just as the sparks of the kunai hitting one another appeared Naruto's own chakra blade slammed against the Tanto of the enemy from Iwagakure.

The kunoichi in question had short bowel cut black hair, and deep pupil-less pink eyes. In such close contact, Naruto could see her eyelashes went up at the corner of her eyes, and she seemed to be holding an arrogant smirk on her face that he had all the intention of wiping out.

"You're no match for us, Konoha-nin!" she coyly whispered as she pushed with her sword through in a display of strength. How could a girl have such a monstrous force to begin with? "Surrender your scrolls and we won't have to kill you!"

"You and what army?" Sakura bantered back as her kunai struck against a nearby tree, the tip hitting the bark and forcing the hidden shinobi out of there. "Can't hide in a forest, Iwa-nin?"

"Can I fight them Kurotsuchi!? Can I!?" a jovial voice rung in the clearing, as a tall and fat looking shinobi of Iwa literally 'skittered' along with tiny jumps. He looked like an over-excited puppy.

"This brat is mine," she said haughtily, "take care of the other two, Akatsuchi."

"We should retreat, Kurotsuchi-sama," the shinobi that Sakura had flushed out remarked. "It isn't wise," he added. "He's like Han," the blond and glass-wearing Iwagakure shinobi narrowed his gaze on Naruto as he spoke. "My bees feel it."

"That's creepy," the girl bantered back, but her smile just grew. "I want to fight him, Jibachi. I know I can take Han most days."

"He lets you win, Kurotsuchi-sama," Jibachi remarked.

Naruto jumped back using the distraction of the small talk between the two enemy shinobi, his back landing squarely against the shoulder of both of his teammates. Kunai in hand, all three of them looked for the closest escape poi as the fat Genin seemed to be hopping on his spot uncomfortably while looking torn between them and the kunoichi of his team.

"Can I fight them? Please?" he pleaded once more.

"We already killed two teams," Sakura spoke crisply. "Don't force our hands to add you to our tally count."

"Oh, the Konoha girl likes to pillow talk," Kurotsuchi grinned. "You think you can take us on?" she spat on the ground near her. "I'd like to see you try. I'm the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage. You know what that means? I have all the techniques of Iwa I can wish for. I have all the knowledge, the secrets…I'm in line to become the next one after my father, and you? You're just a no-name. Maybe you're even a _civilian_ kunoichi. One of those who ends up whoring themselves out in second-rate missions in enemy shinobi beds."

"You!" Sakura hissed clenching her fist. "Say that to my fist, Iwa scum!"

"I can attack and kill you three with ease," Kurotsuchi smiled. "And you know why? Because there are Konoha Jounin or Anbu around us. _They_ will stop you from killing me. It would be a diplomatic blunder if the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage were to die in a Konoha-hosted exam…one so big it could jump-start a _war_."

There was silence as the declaration sunk in. "There are Jounin shadowing us?" Sakura whispered in disbelief.

"Of course," Kurotsuchi rolled her eyes. "You're clearly a civilian if you don't know this, so let me…explain." She raised her right hand, pointing at a patch of trees a bit far away from them. "Chuunin exams are _publicly_ hosted. Promising Genin are shown entering the arena at the end and are broadcasted fighting all across Fire Country. How difficult do you think it would be for an enemy village to obtain said broadcasting? How difficult to analyze fighting styles, learn weaknesses and exploit them? And really…promoting a mere one to ten Genin to Chuunin from the starting pool of one-hundred and fifty or more? Tsk. Tsk. Tsk." The kunoichi shook her head.

"You see, the exams are public display of Blood-line strength or shinobi strength. Practically any shinobi worth his salt knows what the Byakugan can do —see through solid matter, see Tenketsu points. So watching Hyuga Genin fight with a toned down style? Nice and flashy, and completely safe from exploitation," the kunoichi shrugged. "But there could still be some idiots who die after all," she shook her head. "A lot of inbred clan children are too stupid, like Jibachi here, to go anywhere without a babysitter."

The glass wearing Genin ground his teeth, but remained nonetheless quiet.

"So the hosting village makes deals with the other villages. Things like 'hand us over a few missions and your teams will survive mostly intact' or 'we will safeguard specific shinobi in exchange for research information on something else' and things like that. Sometimes they just exchange Ryos under the table too. A bloodline wielding shinobi that dies in another village will have his corpse _prodded to the very last cell_ after all. It's how things are done. Do you know that if it's still fresh, they can even get the baby matter from the body? And fertilize Kunoichi to get new Bloodline wielders?" Kurotsuchi was smiling widely. "Sometimes, they do this for a few generations too, to get the very best they can. Of course sometimes it requires a bit of inbreeding to get it right, but my big brother Deidara is a dashing example of it!"

She chuckled with glee. "So, you see…you are worthless pawns. You, the civilian girl? You'll probably end up as an administration Chuunin or somewhere Kami-forgotten where you'll have to open your legs to survive. You, pale skinned boy? You'll be sent off to some far-away outpost to spend the rest of your life watching clouds roll by…and you," her eyes gleamed as she looked at the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. "You'll be dehumanized. They'll break you to the point where you'll be no better than a dog on a leash. They'll tie you down with chains, flog you until you can no longer recall your name and finally they'll give you a new one. They'll publicly call you 'Hero of Konoha' maybe, but in private…behind the golden locked doors of your gilded cage…you'll be their weapon."

Sweetly, she clapped her hands together. "Just like the Yondaime Hokage! That murderous slaughterer that your country so exalts to the point of bordering insanity. Really…" she shook her head, "Isn't he nothing more than an over-glorified bringer of carnage?"

"Konoha isn't like Iwagakure," Naruto spoke first, after a few moments of silence. His cerulean eyes locked with those of the Tsuchikage's granddaughter, before quietly turning to leave. "We're leaving."

Kurotsuchi snarled. "Giving me your back!? Overconfident much!?"

"No," he shook his head. "You said it yourself: the exam is a scam. I am the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki," he turned his gaze slightly back to where the Kunoichi had taken a step backwards in surprise. "I'm sure nobody would want me to die…so Konoha needs me more than it needs you alive. If we were to fight to the death…you know who they would let survive out of us two, don't you?"

"Tsk," Kurotsuchi spat on the ground once more. "You coward!"

"Touch my team," he hissed back, "And I'll come for _your entire village_. And Nine Tails beat everything else, don't they? Go find yourself some scrolls _elsewhere_."

"Kurotsuchi-sama," Jibachi said crisply. "We should leave."

The kunoichi from Iwa clenched her fists, gritting her teeth and snapping her eyes shut as her shoulders began to tremble from her simmering rage. Then, suddenly, she simply stilled and grinned.

"_Yōton: Sekkaigyō no Jutsu_."

From beneath team thirteen's feet quicklime erupted, the thick and congealing lime covering Naruto's team to their necks before any of them could act.

The Kurotsuchi they had been talking to till that moment crumbled to stone, as another emerged with a sarcastic smile from the ground itself. She thrust her hand into the lime, eliciting gasps and wide eyes from Sakura as her hands prodded around the sticky substance that impeded any movement from them.

Swiftly, the three scrolls they had painstakingly acquired emerged from the lime, while the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage began to whistle happily as she threw two of them to her teammates.

"You know," Kurotsuchi smirked. "You should never let an enemy talk and buy time." She winked as she slowly walked around Naruto himself. "Well, as you can see we're not going to kill your teammates or you," she brought her mouth extremely close to Naruto's right ear, softly whispering then. "You were kind of cute trying to act all tough just a moment ago…I like strong men," with a teasing smirk, she then gently _kissed him_ on the lips.

"See you soon!" she winked one last time coyly, before disappearing with the rest of her team in a flicker.

Naruto stood there, numbly trying to recall just how soft those lips seemed to…no, wait, he was trying to find a way out of there, but the lips were strangely soft for a kunoichi, not that he had any experience with another kunoichi lips but…but he was stammering and stuttering _in his very own mind_.

"Bitch. Bitch. Bitch. Bitch." The repeated words of anger that came from behind Naruto forced the teen to slowly try and turn his head. He could actually see Sakura's hair rise and be covered in chakra induced illusions of flames. "Bitch. Bitch. Bitch." Her emerald eyes were positively murderous. "Who the hell does she think she is, that _bitch_? That good-for-nothing harlot. That deviant daughter of a wh—"

"Cherry," Sai said calmly. "Seduction is a part of the Kunoichi arsenal should they wish for it."

"That had to be experience," Sakura said then with a strangely calm tone. "She clearly had to have experience fucking other shinobi, there's really no other explanation," she said that sweetly, as cracks began to appear around the lime holding her still. The moment the lime dried, it lost much of its strength and consistency and Sakura's rage was enough to actually emerge from the lime with a strong pushing of muscles. "I'm going to kill her, plain and simple."

Naruto was the second to break free, soon followed by Sai. "They got our scrolls," the Jinchuuriki whispered. "If we consider the Hyuga as having the rest of them…"

"That means there might be one free scroll around yet," Sai remarked, "Dickless, don't despair. We can always find the H—"

Sai tensed, before Naruto's right hand threw a volley of shurikens at a rustling bush.

"Hey!" the female voice that exclaimed that was soon met with a light of recognition from Naruto's eyes.

"Karin?" as soon as Naruto said that, the red haired Uzumaki girl emerged from the bushes, holding her right arm out where two shurikens had struck and were making her bleed light dribbles.

"Is that how you greet family in Konoha?" she said then hesitantly. She looked ragged, her hair filled with branches and leaves and her legs sported scrapes similar to those who repeatedly fell with their knees on the ground. Her jacket was singed and half torn, and the fact that she was alone…

"Sorry," Naruto said moving closer.

"Stop!" Sakura barked at the boy, who stilled. "It could be a trap!"

"Ah, I…" Karin muttered, her eyes wide, "I'm no longer inclined to participate. My team was attacked last night…One of the Iwagakure teams. We had no chance," she blinked away the tears. "Th…they let me go," she sobbed.

The implied meaning was there.

It was all that it took for Sakura to feel sick. Surely, they wouldn't…

"It's all right," she moved closer, slowly but firmly hugging the other girl. Her gaze went to Naruto, who seemed perplexed, but with a simple glance he nodded too, before giving a curt nod to Sai who relaxed. "They can't hurt you any more now," Sakura whispered clutching the other kunoichi tightly.

"We should try and survive through this," Naruto commented then. "If we can link up with another team from Konoha…"

"They're circling each other," Karin murmured. "I…I'm a chakra sensor. The enemy attacked while i was sleeping but..." she bit her lips, "there's a...they're close to the tower, one team is made of eleven shinobi. The other is made of nine."

"If we remove the Iwa team we met, the Kiri and Ame team we killed and your team too…" Naruto frowned. "There are three teams on one side and four on the other. That makes…wait," the boy whispered, "Sakura! Was there a Kiri team in the first exam that passed?"

"Huh? Of course there w…" Sakura's eyes widened in disbelief. "There wasn't! Team Five, Eight, Nine and Ten from Konoha passed, one team was from Sunagakure. There was one team from Amegakure, one from Takigakure, one team from Kusagakure and Otogakure and finally two from Iwagakure. No Kiri shinobi passed the first test!"

"So who did we kill last night?" Naruto queried with his eyes wide. "And how did they get in?"

"Orochimaru breached them inside," Sai said calmly. His gaze hardening to steel. "Everyone was distracted on them. Nobody bothered to check the number of participants once inside…and with the death toll already coming down…"

"We are no longer twelve teams in the forest," Naruto muttered. "Shit. Why aren't they stopping the exam then?"

"Probably Hokage's orders," Sai quipped back, before turning to Karin. "If you're a sensor…then where are the closest Jounin-signatures?"

"There aren't," she replied perplexed. "I mean, I can sense something that seems like one from the eleven-shinobi team, but…there are none in the rest of the forest. The tower is crammed with Jounin though."

"Shit," Naruto closed his eyes shut. "Orochimaru played them. He sent Genin-level assassin or maybe Chuunin-rank. We have to be careful. We need to link up with Shikamaru and the rest of them; they need to be warned of the danger!"

"If Shika's smart, he has Hinata's team and both team Five and Taki's team," Sakura began, "which means the other nine are made of team Ten, Otogakure and…Iwa shinobi attacked you? Then it can only be Sunagakure."

"How are they faring?" Naruto asked immediately to Karin, who seemed quite jumpy. "Is Shikamaru holding on?"

"I…I don't know. It's really chakra intensive and…I can only do small pulses with it most of the time," she said with a grieving voice. "We're…We're going there?"

Sakura looked at Naruto, who in turn looked at Sai. Sai looked at Sakura before looking at Naruto. As one, all three of them nodded. "We have to."

Karin bit her lip, before slowly nodding her head. "Fine…please don't leave me behind." The last part, she pleaded it directly to Naruto who seemed surprised and shocked. Those crimson eyes were looking at him through tears, as if expecting him to be some sort of savior and protector…

He nodded once, schooling his features as he turned to Sakura and Sai.

"We proceed in formation. Eat a ration and move out: we'll need the energy."

To those orders, the rest of his…team, nodded.

Shikamaru was having a bad day.

It had started well enough with Ami's death, a freezing night spent beneath a tree huddled close to Chouji who snored like a bear and then a morning wake-up call in the form of Team Eight wanting his brain smarts to win the competition. The fact the idea had come from Kiba had perplexed him: since when did the Inuzuka have a brain?

In any event, they had soon joined forced with Team Five, a group of no-named twenty-something years old Genin who had passed by sheer luck. Gennai was twenty-two years old, and had failed far more Genin exams than they could count. Komugi was twenty-three, and Inaho was apparently his cousin of twenty-two. The three of them had some sort of permanent depressed mood always attached to them, as if they didn't believe they'd survive through the night.

The Takigakure team had joined them midway. Konoha's teams had a Hyuga, they wanted to cooperate and Shikamaru didn't want to proceed with the exam at all. So they were eleven, the maximum applicable no matter what. The two Genin from Taki were called Shibuki and Hoki, while the Kunoichi…the Kunoichi was called Ryuzetsu. He knew there was something amiss with the way the girl walked, but he couldn't find it out and the other two seemed genuinely Genin and eager to help out.

As they were now, they were in a dead-lock with Team Ten and their allies. There was a wide brush of plain covered in dirt mounds, which in truth hid both ordnance like explosive tags and rigged up mines and deadly snakes that their nests in that specific pasture. They were hiding in caves once used by the tigers of the area, which were now hopefully abandoned.

Neji's team was instead using the trees as cover, and was holding them there into a siege battle since the moment they had found each other.

He didn't know what the reason for such hostility was, but he knew there simply was no way he was going to capitulate and let the rest of the shinobi under his 'command' be slaughtered. From what he had gathered, Neji's team was allied both with a Sunagakure shinobi team and an Otogakure one.

This was where the luck ended. Iwagakure shinobi would have without a doubt managed to cave them in or turn the terrain to their advantage. As it was, they were evenly matched and playing a game of attrition. His side possessed three scrolls, and it was probably clear that Neji didn't hold all of the others. He probably had either two or three…maybe four. They were holding them off to prevent them from reaching the tower and have less competition afterwards…

And he had to admire the shrewdness of the action.

If they managed to get their scrolls, they would probably reach seven and ship off towards the tower. Neji had to know they didn't possess all the scrolls. Hinata had told him that her cousin's range was far wider than hers, and she furthermore had said they weren't carrying their scrolls on their person —which made even more sense, since by hiding the scrolls in a location only a Hyuga could see guaranteed the cooperation of the others.

He didn't know the whereabouts of team Thirteen or of the two teams from Iwagakure, or the one from Ame…but that didn't bode well at all.

He watched as Hinata Hyuga was doing her best to smile as she applied a healing salve to one of Shino's shoulders. The Aburame had been sent out with his bugs for recon…he had barely come back alive by shielding himself with his insects. Team Ten's long range specialist had a devastating accurate precision. It was like being beneath archery fire the moment you stepped outside…only the arrows hit and detonated at the same time.

"They're trying to push through again!" Gennai exclaimed, grabbing hold of his kunai as he, Inaho and Komugi headed off for the contingency they had planned beforehand.

Shikamaru carefully watched from his position as the trio of Genin faced off against…a single red haired shinobi?

It was the Genin with the gourd. Sand seemed to be coming out from it, and he appeared to be manipulating the fine grains with practiced ease. He frowned. The sand appeared sluggish, but when his eyes settled on the Sunagakure's shinobi feet he understood. He was _levitating_ on a sand platform, avoiding the mines and the traps placed as walls of sand rose forward to swat away the incoming projectiles from Team Five.

Shikamaru had a bad feeling.

The bad day suddenly became worse when an _arrow_ firmly struck Gennai in the neck, blood gushing out like a fountain as the twenty-something year old Genin began to _choke on his own blood_.

What the hell was team Ten _thinking_!? They were Konoha Genin! They weren't supposed to kill one another!

A shadow passed over the clearing then. Shikamaru's eyes went wide as he watched the Sunagakure kunoichi fly over a giant fan, before jumping in mid-air to grasp at it and send devastating wind scythes at the entire clearing.

The ordnance and the traps detonated all at once. Was she planning on killing her teammate!?

Team Five felt the brunt of the explosions, being torn apart by the traps they themselves had placed wasn't pleasant, but their screams…their screams made Shikamaru feel overrun. He had lost three Genin. Three persons who trusted him to do the right thing. They were just supposed to pelt the enemy from the distance, behind a line of traps.

They weren't supposed to…_to die._

Five heartbeats later, and Shikamaru exhaled slowly as he stood up, both hands rising in the general surrender way.

"We surrender, Neji! State your terms before more are killed!"

"What?!" Ryuzetsu barked back. "You can't be serious!"

"We've gone from eleven to eight in an instant," Shikamaru deadpanned, "and that…that boy isn't normal. You want to make a run with the scrolls by yourself? Feel free. This…This isn't worth it."

"We'll do just that," the kunoichi snapped. "Hand over the scrolls."

"They're hidden in the back of this cave, beneath the fourth rock pillar from your right," the Nara drawled before turning to the entrance of the cave. "Leave if you can, I'm going outside…"

"Nara-san, going outside without protection is ill-advised. Why? Because no-one knows if they will stop attacking or finish you off." Shino brought his glassed back at the top of his nose as he spoke. "We should try and terminate the Suna composition of the enemy. How? I do not know."

Shikamaru sighed, before exhaling one more time. "They aren't going to stop until they get what they want," the Nara shook his head. "It's the only way."

He walked out with his hands above his head. "We would like to speak terms!" he quickly exclaimed.

"Smart boy," the Sunagakure kunoichi landed next to him in a moment, folding her giant fan but taking out a smaller one. "Now where are the scrolls?"

Twin volleys of smoke erupted from within the cave, soon followed by three figures dashing away. The moment the Suna kunoichi took to stammer out and cough, Shikamaru's sign of the rat was completed.

"Kagemane," he said dryly, "completed."

The blond pig-tailed girl found herself turning around with a hand clasping her giant fan. Not controlling her body, she found herself opening it completely before bringing her left hand towards the cloth center of it.

"No," she whispered. "You can't do—"

And then there was the noise of fabric being ripped, as her very own hands tore apart her most prized possession. "It was a gift from my mother," she whispered then frothing in rage. I will have my revenge for this."

"Nobody moves!" Shikamaru barked, even as the red haired Genin from Suna didn't seem inclined to stop.

"It won't work," Temari chuckled dryly. "Gaara's not going to listen to y—"

And then he stopped. Straight in the middle of the clearing, Gaara stopped.

The reason became apparent when another team appeared on one side of the forest, one composed of four shinobi. Shikamaru exhaled in relief as he saw the familiar figure of Naruto, Sakura and Sai accompanied by a fourth member that was from Kusagakure. Team Thirteen was probably going to try and be diplomatic about…

"Orochimaru of the Sannin has invaded the exam test area!" Naruto Uzumaki barked out quickly. "He is an S-rank shinobi threat. A Kirigakure team had already infiltrated the area. _There might be more_. We must stop fighting and head towards the tower as quickly as possible!"

"Yeah, like hell," Temari snorted from her position, even with Shikamaru's Kagemane was firmly holding on to her. The Nara began to sweat. Naruto wasn't known to be a liar. A loner maybe, a prankster in youth too…but he did appear serious.

"Those are lies!" Neji Hyuga took the decision away, "If you met with him, why are you still alive!? You're lying, trying to get to the scrolls!"

"Oh for the love of—"

"Fight me," Gaara's voice resounded crisply into the clearing, his eyes icy as they stared at Naruto's form. "If you win, you will have my scroll and prove your words. If I win, you and your teammates will die." Sands whipped around the Sunagakure shinobi like waves, forming hands as the platform upon which he rested his feet began to levitate.

"Fight me, prove my existence with your blood!" he snarled, angrily screaming. "Prove to me your strength, Kyuubi no Kitsune!"

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed as he watched Naruto give a quick glance over to both Sakura and Sai, his two teammates looking at Gaara and shaking their heads firmly. Naruto just gave them an awry smile, before carefully nodding once.

Sakura seemed defeated, the girl biting her lip in an effort to say something.

The red haired girl that had been there since the beginning purposefully marched forward and gave a kiss to Naruto's cheek, making the dark haired boy stutter.

Shikamaru sweat-dropped. The Sunagakure shinobi looked positively murderous at being ignored.

He watched with the corner of his eyes as Sakura seemed to steel her resolve, before clasping onto Naruto's clothes and full-out kissing him on the lips.

The best reaction to define that…would be that Rock Lee _guffawed_.

The sickening feeling of blood-lust simply increased after that in the air, as Naruto found himself taking a few more steps forward towards the clearing, while the rest of his teammates dropped back in the surrounding forest.

"A real shinobi doesn't fight head-on," Naruto muttered, looking at the mass of sand and hatred that seemed to be Gaara. "Danzo-sensei would kill me if he were to watch this."

In the bowels of Root, Danzo Shimura watched through the water sphere with anger simmering to explode. He eyed the slightly worried Hokage, who seemed to be trying to get into contact with the teams stationed to guard over the Jinchuuriki of the Sand…

"Let me guess," Danzo smoothly muttered. "No Jounin or Anbu is answering the call from their surrounding…and Tenzo is not reachable."

"They are sighting Orochimaru in the other areas. He's trying to reach the Iwagakure teams…"

"So either we let him kill Oonoki's granddaughter and start a war…" Danzo smoothly interjected, "or we let the battle between the two Jinchuuriki play out. In the training ground forty-four…it's too close to Konoha," he exhaled once. "Sound the alert. Have the civilians head for the bunkers. I trust Naruto implicitly to hold the Kyuubi in check…"

His only eye narrowed, "But I don't trust Sunagakure's Jinchuuriki at all. Try and get Tenzo to answer for Kami's sake! We're going to have a battle between Jinchuuriki at the doors of our village!"

Gaara didn't know why.

He had always been alone. People hated him, tried to kill him and threw things at him. He could never sleep. He could never close his eyes because a voice soon began to whisper bad things in his ears. Then his uncle had died, and the voice had told him she was his mother. He had believed the voice, and he no longer had been alone.

Now, in the clearing, he watched as another walked forward purposefully. This one had cerulean eyes, a darker shade than his, and dark hair. He had teammates who talked to him, and one even _kissed_ him.

He had never been kissed, not even on the cheek.

He had never been hit, but not for lack of trying.

He was furious. How dare he? How dare he have what he had not!?

He would show him. He would…

"Shukaku," Naruto spoke firmly. "Are you in there?" he added then. He was relaying the Kyuubi's words; better that than to become some sort of chakra beacon.

"Mother doesn't want to talk to you. She wants to fight you!"

"Shukaku," the Kyuubi snarled. "Answer me! It was annoying before, but now…where are the others!?"

"That's not my name!" Gaara screamed back as the sand around him began to pulse with blue lights. "I am the Ichibi! The ruler of the desert!"

"Shukaku," Kurama whispered quietly. "What have they done to you?"

"It was so small," the Ichibi whimpered like a child. "So small and cold. It was a vase. Can you think a vase is enough for me? I had to become small. Smaller and smaller or the vase would crack, and the next would be tighter and more hurtful. It was maddening…tell me, Onii-san…why did it have to be me?" the voice wasn't that of a blood-thirsty monster. It looked, it felt, it seemed…like that of a child, a scared one.

"_Why did I have to be brought to this maddening world!?_ _WHY DID I HAVE TO BE THE MISERY!? All can react…but I suffer alone. All can do, but I cry alone. I was left alone. You never came to save me, big brother. Nobody came to me. I was left alone. In the vase. Crying. Why weren't you there for me, brother? Did you not love me?"_

"Shukaku," Kurama spoke firmly. "Why have you not freed yourself? The seal of the boy is weak!"

"I have lived in a cage for centuries, brother…" Shukaku spoke through Gaara's mouth. "I am afraid of leaving the prison…what if the next hurts more?"

Naruto clenched his right fist. His blood felt as if it was boiling.

"I understand," he finally whispered. "So you want to fight, **brother**?"

"I…I want to be _free from my duties_."

"**Then as your older brother**," Naruto unsheathed his Yoroi Tanto, red and crimson chakra lapping out and surrounding his frame, "**I will free you from your burden!"**

A shroud of crimson chakra burned through the grass of the clearing, as fire itself naturally lit the area, generating a firestorm that crackled madly throughout the area. A pool of flames surrounded the two fighters, as Naruto's mind watched from within the sewer-like room the Kyuubi's chakra flowing through the water, the pipes, and the surroundings.

The water was slowly boiling away, and as Naruto hissed in pain, the Kyuubi's crimson eyes narrowed on him.

"You are not fighting me. Have you gone mad, finally?"

"I understand," Naruto whispered back, closing his eyes firmly. "His pain..._I understand it_."

The Kyuubi grinned slightly, showing his giant teeth.

"Then open your eyes, Naruto Uzumaki," the Kyuubi remarked. "Watch as the malice of men works! My brother ruled over the sands…he was maybe a sight of misery while free, but as long as he was… misery could be kept controlled. He was the leash of the desert itself! The solitude, the despair…and he was the kindness in the midst of the nothingness. He was the oasis you can find in the middle of nowhere," Kurama's eyes glazed over as he remembered. "He was the weakest, and yet…he always harbored the belief that even in despair, even in the deepest pits of misery…there was a chance to rise back up."

The Kyuubi took a deep breath.

"_**AND LOOK AT HIM NOW!"**_ the Kyuubi's roar came just as Naruto's body in the world slammed his left hand covered in red chakra against the ground, splintering it as the dangerous chakra-arm emerged further down, piercing through the sand platform of Gaara and grabbing the boy's feet.

Gaara screamed as he threw a barrage of sand projectiles at Naruto, who deftly dodged them while being forced to let go of the limb.

"_**The sand shield is new,"**_ Kurama hissed through Naruto's teeth. "But not enough, Shukaku."

"_**STOP SAYING THAT NAME**_!" Gaara screamed with a voice a mixture of the Ichibi and his. _**"I am mother! I am Ichibi! I am not worthy of a name that means nothing to me anymore!" **_

And then Gaara's body cracked as the sand seemed to fall apart, before converging and tightening around the red-haired boy to form strange disproportionate limbs.

"_**Mother will feast on your blood,"**_ Gaara smiled.

Shikamaru watched with fascination the battle, even after the Kagemane had failed. It took him just a glance to understand that Temari wouldn't be going anywhere anyway: the girl was _trembling_ in fear.

"It's free," she muttered shaking. "It's _free_."

"Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered with her byakugan active. She clasped her hands together, her Byakugan active as she watched the chakra of a brilliant red and soothing gold mix and bat away at each other, as if a battle for dominance was just not only happening between shinobi…but also between their very chakra.

It was because of that that neither she, nor her teammates, saw the dark ink snake that slithered slowly towards her ankle, with its teeth glinting dangerously as poison gleamed from the fangs…

"Neji," Tenten murmured as she watched while shaking the fight between _monsters_, rather than shinobi. "What does fate says about this?"

"We are going to die," Neji remarked calmly. "It is fate's will that demons will fight in front of us."

"Neji! Yosh! We must provide help to our Konoha teammates!"

"I wouldn't do that," the Oto _archer_ of the Otogakure team remarked dryly. "Look at them…you'd be torn to shreds. Best let them kill each other. Demons like those…those trash monsters, they don't deserve to be helped."

"Shut the fucking mouth you have up!" the female Kunoichi of the Oto team snapped while cussing at her teammate, "I'm trying to listen to what they're saying for fuck's sakes!"

"Shouldn't we prepare a barrier?" the hulking brute that was the third shinobi of the Otogakure team asked then, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Unfortunately the other shit-heads didn't pass," the girl replied. "We'll have to wait and see."

"Damn," the Sunagakure puppet-user muttered. "If Gaara frees the Ichibi _in here_…_now_…damn."

Sakura's hands clenched together as she watched Naruto fight Gaara, her eyes locking down on the possible enemy help. If anyone dared to even try as much as attack Naruto…she'd have their hides. And if someone even thought about kissing him again…she'd have their hides.

She was planning on adding the Kusagakure kunoichi to the list of 'people to get the hides from'…just after Kurotsuchi.

But at the moment…

All that she could do was to wait and see…how the battle would fare on.

**Author's notes**

**Cliff-Hanger No Jutsu.**

**The Sound 'Four' are the Oto team. (Chuckles). The Jounins have somewhat been taken out of the picture…Karin is there. (Liar that she is.)**

**Nobody realized there never was a Kiri team passing. Eh…**

**Surprised?**


	24. The Bloody Tears of Misery

Introverted

Chapter Twenty-Four

A shadow streaked through a small room, a kunai glinting in the darkness. Who was the figure that wanted to kill him? Why? Had he done something wrong?

"Snap out of it," the Kyuubi's growl was threatening, as Naruto's eyes narrowed and concentrated once more on the battle. "I can feel his chakra –it's unbalanced. His Yin and his Yang are completely wrong in proportion. When they sealed him, they made a mistake and left behind a few important parts…but all that is incomplete always tries to fix itself. Your misery will add to his, and his will add to yours. Do not be distracted less you wish to lose yourself in the misery of all of _mankind_."

A sand hand crashed down on the spot he had been a moment before, his muscles flexed with ease as he rolled and threw a volley of kunai that were quickly blocked by Gaara's sand shield. His sand defense seemed impenetrable, as the weapons were flung back and lost themselves behind the tree-tops.

"That thing isn't supposed to be there," Kurama muttered. "Isobu is the one who uses techniques to shield…Shukaku was always about wide spread destruction."

"So what?" Naruto muttered, as hardened sand spears were swatted away by two red chakra tails that were surrounding his body. "We find an opening?"

"We don't need an opening," Kurama remarked calmly. "My strength can shatter mountains. The question is how much your body can last before my chakra worms its way into your deepest coils, breaking them apart with its acidity? We are cooperating at present only out of a _whim_, but don't expect me to help you for anything else. We just share the same goal, understood?"

"Yeah," Naruto swallowed hardly. "So I can have more power?"

"I can give you all that you desire, Naruto," Kurama smiled. "You need but to ask…and be prepared for the _consequences_."

As a wave of sand crashed in his direction, Naruto jumped above it instinctively, before columns of the golden gravel erupted from the very ground and grew spikes and arms. The multiple hands of sand clasped at Naruto's ankles and wrists, and then they began to _pull_.

The red cloak of chakra didn't seem to bother with physical attacks, even though the sand hands were outright burning from the intensity of the heat…and turning into glass fragments that dug deeper into Naruto's flesh as more sand took their place.

The pain was _excruciating_.

Naruto's screams were soon died out as a cocoon of sand covered him completely from the outside, as Gaara's half-demented and half-deformed smile grew wider and wider.

"Yes, mother, his blood will be ours," he snarled with glee. "We will prove our existence with his death! His misery and inescapable fate will be our continued life's confirmation!"

Sakura slowly clenched the hilt of her kunai, quietly her other hand had been working on tying knot after knot of explosive tags to the very same weapon she intended to throw. She would exhaust her entire reserve…but Naruto wasn't going to die there if she could stop this.

The rest of the Genin watching were distracted by the scene to bother about her. The moment the last knot was done, she carefully hefted a needle with her free hand. Her gaze went to Sai, who was supposed to have venom last time she had checked. It would take only a drop to down the red haired Sunagakure shinobi.

It was then that she realized Sai had already disappeared, leaving behind nothing more than an aptly placed disguised Ink clone. She frowned. Where had the pale boy gone?

Maybe he had decided to take care of the distraction offered by the fight between Naruto and Gaara to get to the scrolls?

She flicked her gaze to the sides. Everyone else seemed actually intent on watching the fight or avoiding the debris or projectiles that bounced off. More than once a rebounding kunai had nearly wounded her since the battle between Jinchuuriki had started after all…

But she didn't have the time.

She needed poison.

"Karin," Sakura hissed in a low whisper. Her emerald eyes fixing on the crimson ones of the other kunoichi. "Do you have poison?"

It was sexism, she knew, but it did have a source of truth. The fact that all female kunoichi carried some poison on them was outright sexist, but male were naturally stronger in muscles than females…and poison evened the odds by a long run.

The kunoichi bit her lower lip, before nodding. Quietly, she passed a pinkish vial of something to her. Sakura didn't bother with asking the dosage. She wanted the boy killed, not knocked out.

She jumped back behind a tree, leaving a Bunshin of herself in place.

She had to be fast…Naruto's life depended on her.

Hinata was watching with fright and awe the battle. Chakra lashed out and was met with more chakra, as sand clasped and surrounded Naruto she widened her mouth in shock with a hand covering it. She couldn't scream. Naruto never lost .He was always happy and smiling. He was always grinning. Even in face of peril and what-not, he never lost the will to succeed.

Until something had happened, and his smile had been stolen.

She had hated whoever had stolen his smile. She had hated watching him close off in himself, becoming another…her. She had been disgusted with herself too. Naruto's light, his shine…it had disappeared, and she had felt nice about it. She had hoped she could move closer to him, convince him to open up to her, and then become once more a ray of hope in the bleak world she lived in.

She had been selfish, and someone else had taken her idea and made it her own.

How _dared_ Sakura Haruno take Naruto's first kiss? How dared she make him smile when it was her duty, her job, her most prized dream to be the one to do so? Why hadn't she kept being the ignorant and vapid girl that day-dreamed of making Uchiha babies? Why did she have to wise up, realize Naruto's potential and fall in…fall in…no. She wouldn't have that.

There was no way someone like _Sakura_ could _love_ Naruto. She was just using him for her own selfish needs…

But she didn't have proof, and Naruto was smiling finally. He was blushing and stammering after years…how could she try and take that away from him? She couldn't.

Hinata knew she had lost, even as her heart broke from the pain she knew there simply was nothing else to do. She wasn't going to do anything anymore to try and catch Naruto's attention…even when she had done nothing to begin with. Maybe if she hadn't simply fidgeted, maybe if she had talked to him before, acted less shyly…

But no, she hadn't.

And now, she would pay the price.

Tenzo hated the job. The fact he had to cramp himself into one of his very own Mokuton-Bunshins wasn't the reason he truly hated it, but the 'no-slip' rule of the Anbu-Taichou was literally _extreme_. Never mind the reduction of Anbu deaths since the rule had been applied, never mind the harrowing training of death should one slip even once, never mind the fact he was at his second day with his bladder filled…

Never mind that, the true problem was moving within the bunshin itself.

He was tightly packed in a crouched form, and if he wanted to move he had to send pulses of chakra along the legs, the arms, the head to see through the eye sockets…and it didn't help that he had to make 'Akamaru' bark every now and then. Thankfully the dog was known for never leaving the boy's head unless in battle, otherwise animating that Bunshin on top of the one of Kiba? Maddening.

Still, with chakra laying over the Bunshin he was safe from the Byakugan itself…as long as he didn't slip.

He was watching the battle unfold, but he still didn't know if he could slip out and placate the Jinchuuriki or not. His orders had been clear-cut: avoid detection unless it becomes needed. Naruto didn't seem to have 'lost' himself, and no Kyuubi was out and about. The Suna Jinchuuriki was an unknown, but he had received his orders concerning that…

If the Ichibi rampaged, Konoha could 'put him down' and claim the one-tails.

So…

So he was forced to watch.

He sensed the arrival of one of the Konoha Genin, the pale-skinned Sai. He eyed him carefully through the Mokuton Bunshin's eyes —the way he crept silently from behind their backs. He seemed to be looking for scrolls, considering everything…

He heard the slithering of a snake's movement at his feet. In a moment, he squashed the snake ink that had been aiming to bite Hinata's ankle, spinning around ready to stop the other Genin…

…when a blow-dart tried to hit squarely on the neck Hinata, his Mokuton Bunshin's right hand shot forth and stopped it. He was just about to say something to alert the others, when an arrow struck true through the thick canopy of trees…

…piercing straight through Hinata's side as she had spun around to watch 'Kiba' move closer to her.

There were only three words that now filled Tenzo's mind, as he watched the Hyuga heiress slowly start to fall sideways with her eyes widened in fear, blood escaping from the wound copiously as her body hit the ground with a dull thud.

_He had slipped_.

But his and Shino's screams of 'Hinata!' were drowned as the Ichibi's murderous laughter filled the air.

"And now die! _**DIE ALONE, SWALLOWED IN MISERY**_!"

Gaara's deformed right hand slowly lifted itself above the ground, the gleaming claws shining against the light of the sun as the boy's eyes widened, before he screamed out in a mixture of hatred and joy.

"_**Sabaku Sōsō**_!"

Naruto was lost in the darkness. There were strangled sobs and tears, a stale scent of blood filling the air.

He looked around, before making a quick jump backwards as the Kyuubi seemed to tower right next to him, rather than elsewhere.

"I told you not to be caught," Kurama remarked calmly. His crimson gaze narrowed to something further down the way. "Not that it bothers me, but dying is never something I found pleasant in all the times it happened."

"Did…Did I die?" Naruto whispered, a sick feeling settling at the base of his throat.

"No," Kurama snorted. "You asked for more power, did you not?" the Kyuubi smiled sweetly. "Let it never be said…that I am not _cooperative_."

Four tails of black darkness emerged from the sand coffin of Gaara, as it detonated outwards tearing apart the very clearing the two Jinchuuriki had been fighting on with an inescapable blast of devastation. Sickening and blood-filled chakra thickly descended on the shoulders of those who were watching the fight, as Neji held on to his left arm, wounded by a broken off branch that in his awe for the battle he had not even bothered to dodge.

"Neji!" Tenten's shriek brought him back to the 'now' as he blinked once in her direction. "We have to leave!"

"No," Neji replied calmly, before turning his gaze back to the battle. "We cannot escape fate."

"This isn't about fate! We're going to die if we remain here!" the Kunoichi grabbed Neji by the hem of his clothes. "If you don't plan on leaving, then I'm hauling your ass out. Lee! Come here!"

He didn't fight Rock Lee lifting and placing him on his back. He didn't even fight the embarrassing position he had ended up in. He simply watched with unyielding gaze the battle happening, activating his Byakugan the moment his line of sight was hindered.

The instant he did so…

_He understood what being __**outclassed**__ meant_.

Jiraiya of the Sannin felt the chakra coming, lapping across the sky and the ground in waves filled of malice. He couldn't go for it however, as Orochimaru was directly in front of him, a smile slowly creeping across his once teammate's face.

"Was this your intention?" Jiraiya whispered. "Did you plan to unleash the Kyuubi?"

"No," Orochimaru shook his head. "My plan…really," the snake sannin spoke wistfully, "it was such a simple plan."

"Care to share?"

"Jiraiya," the traitor of the leaf shook his head, clothes of red clouds and silver interweaving flowing freely with the wind. "You never saw the bigger picture, did you?"

"Is Tsunade working for you, Orochi?" the Toad sannin asked calmly. "Has she…betrayed the leaf?"

"What if I say no and it is yes? And what if I say yes, and it is no?" he cocked his head to the side. "And what if I say yes and she says no? Or what if I say no and she says yes? Would you trust my word, hers, both or neither?" there was a beat of silence, "You sicken me, Jiraiya. Your stupidity and your blindness are _disgusting_ to watch…"

There was a disgusted hiss following Orochimaru's words. "Then again, you summon toads…you are repulsive by principle of things, are you not?"

"Shouldn't slugs get the medal for being icky?" Jiraiya could not divert his attention from Orochimaru. They both were talking, but this one…he knew this was the real Snake Sannin and not a Doton clone. If he lost sight of the man even for a second…then he would lose. The same was true for the traitor.

"You must also consider the summoner," Orochimaru said calmly. "Do you know that holding someone's heart is a sure way to ensure loyalty? What then, if someone was to hold the _souls_ of your most beloved ones? What if death was no longer a certainty, but merely a hurdle to overcome? Tell me, Jiraiya, what would you sacrifice, in exchange for another moment with your beloved ones?"

Jiraiya slowly ground his teeth. "What are you talking about?"

"You know of the Edo Tensei," Orochimaru spoke firmly. "You must know of it, sensei told you, didn't he?"

"No," Jiraiya muttered. "He didn't. What is it? A technique?"

"You don't know?" the snake sannin blinked. The toad sage didn't move. The blink had been calculated to lure him in a trap –he knew how Orochimaru thought after all.

"No, _enlighten me_."

"Ask Sensei," the snake sannin shrugged. "I know. He told me. He asked me to research it. He asked me to perfect it…and then," here Orochimaru chuckled bitterly, "_And then he tried to drive a kunai through my heart_. Wonderful example of paternal love, isn't it?"

"You're lying! Sensei would never…"

"He asked for results! Hours and days of research became weeks and months with nothing! And then he told me to stop. He told me it would be enough, that there wasn't a solution to the problem!" Orochimaru screamed that, pointing his accusing finger at him. "And you know what!? He had the nerve to tell me I did wrong! That my tests and experiments on enemy shinobi were heartless! He told me to stop them. He told me to take on another team, do a few mission elsewhere…he took my lab. He took my experiments. He told me it was over, that I had failed and that I shouldn't be angry because…it happened."

The Kusanagi came unsheathed from Orochimaru's back.

"Let me tell you, Jiraiya, that when you invest years of life in something and it is taken away…your perspective of things, your values, the importance you give to the rest of the things you possess…it changes, drastically," wistfully, he looked up at the sky. "You know, I considered Anko like a daughter…now I only see a walking sac of flesh that I can experiment upon, or that I can make suffer," his laughter was mirthless. "Tell me, _am I broken_ Jiraiya? Or _was I broken_?"

"You're lying."

"And you still wonder why you disgust me, old friend," Orochimaru grinned. "Never seen the bigger picture, never will…"

And then the Kusanagi was met with a stone sword from the Mount of Toads itself, as the two legendary shinobi locked one against the other in a battle of speed and reflexes where sparks flew in the air upon contact of the two blades with one another.

The darkness that surrounded Naruto was filled with cries. He heard screams, whimpers, pleads and grieving calls for help. The Kyuubi at his side simply sat down, smirking in wait.

"Go on, don't let me hold you back," he said simply, nudging him forward. "Watch misery, watch humankind's despair and grief. Watch what your fellow man does to another, feel the tears run down your cheeks and then ask yourself… ask if my work is without _purpose_!"

Naruto took a single step forward, and then the screams that had been incoherent babble until then became _understandable_.

"_Mommy? Where are you, mommy?"_

"_Daddy! Help me!"_

"_Stop it please! They're only children!"_

"_No! What is our fault?! We didn't do anything!"_

"_We didn't ask to be born with bloodlines!"_

"_Stop it! It hurts! Help! Help me! Mom!? Dad!? Someone!?"_

"_It's dark in here…someone, anyone?"_

"_I feel sick…where are you, mom?"_

"_Don't walk my path, Amaru, please, don't walk my path!"_

"_Why are you taking me away? I didn't do anything wrong! I am not a monster!"_

"_Please, I'm not at fault…I promise I'll be good!"_

"_What have I done wrong, why am I here? Please let me out!"_

"_It was my wife! Not the lord's! He had no right, no right! Please stop! Don't!"_

_Screams. Cries. Tears. Sadness and grief that were nothing more than misery that asked for more. There was no hope. There was nothing but the crushing despair that turned to the darkest thoughts of mankind itself._

"Malice at least…malice is action," Kurama's voice whispered at Naruto's ears, as his heart felt clenched by the mere tone the words, the calls for help held. "Misery is nothing more than uttermost despair. It is to suffer; it is…it is crushing, isn't it? And for all their calls of strength concerning my powers…I always thought Shukaku was the one with the strongest soul. He could smile, even when his entire being was composed of this. He could laugh and play, just like a child, even when his burden was maybe the heaviest out of us all. So tell me Naruto…is it worth it to fight for humanity? Do you know how many die of hunger, thirst, abandoned by their only chance of survival? How many cry in the dark cells for crimes they have not committed, forever cast away from the light?"

"_I didn't poison Naruto-kun! Please, I didn't!"_ Naruto's eyes widened.

"Ayame!? _**AYAME**_!"

"_It wasn't me," the voice sobbed. "I didn't do it. Please. I'm sorry. I didn't do it! I loved him like a brother, please…you have to believe me, I didn't do it!"_

"Where is she?!"

"_Nowhere_," Kurama remarked. "Her despair is just added to that of Shukaku. Her thoughts are nothing more than the Yin chakra that composes him, just as Nature itself is our Yang side. Why do you think I am not a gibbering mess of stupidity, even with my Yin side sealed by the shinigami?"

"W-What?"

"You don't know?" Kurama raised an eyebrow. "Your Hokage thought the seal would not be enough to contain all of me…and so he sealed away with him only my Yin half. Know this: had he actually succeeded and had I not held onto a bare minimum…you wouldn't be talking to me…as much as fending off every single attack of a fox blabbering like a raving lunatic. Yin chakra is what makes us think, it is what defines us to the world. Without it…we are nothing more than masses of chakra bound to our only purpose of destruction…and if we can't think, then we do not even recall _what we have to destroy_."

"So…Ayame…she…she was innocent?"

"That depends," Kurama replied. "In the deepest pits of despair she cried out her innocence. Either she lied _to her very soul_ when she said those words, or at the very least she meant every single one of them…or she might have simply chosen to forget about it, you humans do that when traumatic experiences happen after all."

"_Sob…Uncle? Where are you?"_ the voice of Gaara caught Naruto's attention, as he turned his gaze to the scene of a young boy crying out as he held onto a teddy bear, tears running down the chins of what was now the monster he was fighting.

"_Am I human? Why can't I bleed like the others?"_

"_I am so sorry, Gaara,"_ the uncle in question whispered, only to his very mind, as the scene morphed to a tear-stricken Gaara on a rooftop, moments before he carved the Kanji for 'Love' on his forehead while screaming out in maddening grief his last tears.

"Shukaku! Where are you, brother!?" Kurama's voice barked through the pitch black darkness. "Stop hiding away! You called me here, through the dreamscape of Chakra!"

"We used to play hide and seek a lot, brother," another voice spoke as a figure took a single step forward from the darkness. It was a child, with deep golden hair and striking blue eyes. He had two earrings on his ear, on the upper side. He wore a simple robe, the color of the sand. His skin was pale as he held onto a simple leather ball. "You don't like playing with me anymore?"

"It's not that, Shukaku," Kurama whispered back softly, his crimson gaze landing on the small humanoid figure. "What have they done to you? Do you remember now? Have you recalled? Is my presence enough, brother?"

"It was dark and cramped for a long time," Shukaku muttered. "Then they tried to put me in people. People cannot withstand my power for long, at night the misery would seep through…their thoughts would become muddled by mine…and so they thought it my fault, when I broke free…when I broke free I was lost. I had lost many pieces. Who I was, what I had to do…I couldn't recall much. Was I Shukaku? Was I the Ichibi? A 'Weapon', a 'Bijuu'? Was I a Demon, brother? Were we Demons back then, with father? Why did he never call us demons then? I couldn't understand. They never answered me," the boy bit his lower lip.

"I tried to be good. Their seals were shoddy. I did my best…but then I lost more pieces. Every time they brought me back, I lost pieces. I was afraid brother…I was so much afraid," tears swelled in the boy's eyes. "_What if I hurt more?_ I didn't want misery to grow! I didn't want to hear the screams of the orphans, the cries of the widows! I didn't want more! I just…wanted it to end," he closed his eyes shut.

"I'm selfish, brother," he whispered. "But I can't do this…I lost too many pieces. Why, why was I fighting to begin with? What did father tell me, that I forgot? What was it that I had found, that gave me the strength to go on? He told me, didn't he? He told all of us…but I can't remember…"

"_I don't have long any more. Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Gokū, Kokuō, Saiken, Chōmei, Gyūki, Kurama. Even though you have been separated, you shall always be together."_ Kurama whispered, his eyes gleaming slightly from tears. Naruto watched the scene unfold and the words being spoken without breathing, his heart clenching painfully as the words simply came out from the Kyuubi's mouth one after the other._ "Even though your burden is great, even though my selfishness imposes this on you, know that I would not entrust this to anyone else…because I love you, my precious children."_

"It feels nice," Shukaku whispered back. "It's warm," he added with his right hand touching his chest. "Was that what gave me strength?"

Kurama did not answer, but merely lowered his giant fox head until the tip of his nose touched Shukaku's humanoid frame. "Brother…are you sure?"

"I'm sorry," Shukaku whispered once more, "But…this warmth…I want to go while I still remember it. I don't want to lose this warmth again, please!"

Shukaku's plead finished just as the Kyuubi raised once more its head upwards.

"It's all right to be selfish once, brother," Kurama whispered finally, his voice actually cracked…

…and then his jaws crunched down on Shukaku itself, swallowing him whole with a single movement. Naruto's eyes widened, but he couldn't even scream as the roar of agony of the Kyuubi drowned out any protest, as the soul-rending shriek pierced through the darkness itself and slammed him outside, away from the Kyuubi's lament.

Naruto's eyes opened to his mouth firmly settled into the lukewarm entrails of the Sunagakure shinobi known as Gaara.

No, to be more precise…his mouth had been feasting on the enemy's chakra coils. He had feasted on the source of chakra itself from a body, he had eaten Shukaku.

The sand lay down on the ground motionless, as all around him was nothing more than devastation and torn apart trees. There wasn't a forest anymore around, but just a desert of sand. The trees themselves, which stood beyond the now larger field, were covered with a light sprinkle of golden grains. No-one was around him, as he felt his skin burn while chakra healed his body…

He looked at his skin, that appeared flailed out and that was now closing up with unparalleled speed. His clothes were torn to shreds, barely covering his body as he tried to stand up only to fall on his back and gasp for air, coughing out blood that he knew wasn't his, but only of the enemy.

The enemy he had killed.

The…The boy who had no fault but that of having been born as he was, where he was, and that had suffered beyond what a normal boy was meant to.

"I'm sorry," he whispered out. "Your uncle really loved you," he added then, as tears began to streak down his face. "There was no other way."

"_**NARUTO**_!" there was a blur of pink hair as soft arms suddenly encircled him, a face digging deep on his shoulder as he felt Sakura's body press against his. The girl was sobbing uncontrollably; she clutched him tightly as if afraid he'd slip away.

"_Never again_. Never…sob…never again do you hear me!" she cried hard against his shoulder, mumbling, "I was so scared. I thought you were dead and then…then you came out _different_ and…and you attacked him. I didn't want to leave you, but Sai –the bastard– grabbed me and pulled me away. He rambled about bestiality or something and I hit him a few times, but then I dashed back here just as I heard the sound of battle winding down and…please tell me you're fine," she looked at him, her emerald eyes filled with tears. "Are you hurt? You aren't hurt, are you, Naruto?"

"N-No," he croaked out. "I'm…I'm fine."

"Thank Kami," she hugged him again firmly. "Thank Kami."

"Dickless," Sai's voice quipped in as he appeared in a flicker a moment later. "Can you fight?"

Naruto's eyes went up to where the boy was, before frowning. "I…I feel fine, Sai."

"Good," the boy nodded, before handing over one of the scrolls to him. "This is the Suna's team scroll. You hold it."

"Sai!" Sakura exclaimed angrily. "You can't just hand it over like that! Naruto, stop acting tough! You can't be fine! Just look at you…you're…" she suddenly blushed and took a small jump away. "You're half-naked!"

"Oh?" Sai raised an eyebrow. "You weren't actually assaulting him, Kinky Cherry?" the pale boy cocked his head to the side. "I thought you were a rapist too. You did kiss him by force earlier."

Sakura's face turned crimson as she stuttered and flailed her hands and arms wildly in front of her. "Th-That's not true! I wasn't…It's not…It's not the same thing! I was…They were…It's not what you think, Sai! It was between teammates!"

Sai took a slight step backwards. "I don't want to be kissed by you, Kinky. I fear for my purity."

"I wasn't going to– wait a moment! Why are you making it sound like you're an innocent maiden or something!? I'm the one who has to listen to you spouting nonsense with dicks all day!"

"Where are the others?" Naruto asked then, looking around in surprise.

"They ran," Sai deadpanned. "Nara and Akimichi ran towards the tower. Team Nine moved away, probably to get their stashed scrolls. Team Otogakure is pursuing team Eight, and the Suna shinobi…"

"Naruto-kun!" a female voice suddenly made Sakura's forehead sport a tick-mark, as the crimson haired Uzumaki Kunoichi waved her hand as she ran forward, before stopping down next to him and…hugging him!?

The skank! The whore! How dared she–

"I was so worried," Karin whispered in fright, "But I saw you fight and you were _wonderful_! The Suna Jinchuuriki didn't stand a chance!"

Naruto's face clouded at the memory…but why was he more saddened for Shukaku's death than Gaara's?

"Don't murder my brother before having seen his corpse, _brat_." Kurama's grumble reached his ears then. "We are _constructs of chakra_. We do not 'die'. He and I are now _one_."

Naruto didn't answer, as his gaze landed on the two surviving Sunagakure shinobi who were slowly advancing towards them, their mouths opened in awe and fear as they looked at him.

Sakura must have realized he was actually looking at someone, because she was suddenly holding a kunai in her hand and had spun around, protectively standing in front of Naruto. Sai's own Tanto had come unsheathed, as he too had the same thought. The Kunoichi just raised her hands in the air slightly.

"Woah, calm down," she said. "We don't want to fight," she added. "You just killed Gaara. It's something not even the Kazekage's chosen assassins could do. We're not suicidal. We gave you the scroll, right?" she added, "We're just here to get his body…nothing more…unless he wants…to eat it?" the last part had been asked with hesitation. It wasn't sarcasm, but outright fear that Naruto might have actually _liked_ to eat corpses.

Sakura narrowed her eyes on the duo. "And why would you want the body back? Does it hold any secret?"

"He's the Kazekage's son," Temari said calmly. "Blood seals tied to being his children would work with someone using his blood for example."

"He never bled," Naruto said then dully. "You're lying."

Sakura's hold on the kunai tightened.

"And how do you know that!?" Temari asked then.

"You're…you're his sister, right?" Naruto's voice was barely a whisper, but it was enough to be heard by the kunoichi.

"So what if I am? Did you talk to him while fighting…and he actually answered?"

"No," Naruto shook his head. "I talked to his…soul? He was swallowed in misery and despair…nobody ever loved him, right?"

"How could you love a monster?" she snorted back.

"He was always about 'talk and I'll kill you' and things like that!" Kankuro exclaimed then, "How do you love someone who only thinks about killing you!?"

"He knew," Naruto said then with dull eyes. "Shukaku told him. He wasn't holding you away for anger, and he wasn't acting like a psychopath for his own gain. If he had acted like a brother to you, your own father would have sent both of you to kill him…he _protected_ you by keeping his distance…so have some respect for the dead at least."

Slowly, Naruto stood up. "When you go back to your father, try and ask him if he ordered your uncle to kill Gaara…he might lie, but the truth is that he did give that order…and the fact the order was obeyed is what brought us to this. If he wants to fault someone…he can fault _himself_."

"What proof do you have?" Kankuro asked then bewildered. "I mean, do you have anything solid? He's not only our father, but also the Kage of Suna…unless-"

"Shukaku whispered of misery," Naruto replied calmly. "And your uncle's last thought were of despairing grief for what he had done."

There was a moment of silence, where only the wind blew in the desert-like clearing.

"C-Can we bring him home?" Temari asked finally with a cracked voice, her eyes slightly humid.

"Take him and go," Naruto said then with a nod. "Wait out the time-limit near a gate and leave…it's for the best."

Temari's hand grabbed the light weight that was Gaara's corpse, before jumping back and starting to run away with Kankuro in tow. She held the dead body of her younger brother, the one she used to talk to when he was still in her mother's 'tummy'. She had already planned to be the bossy sister, to make sure he'd always be prim and proper…and there he was now, dead.

Life has a way of going against plans…but her eyes hardened then, because if her father had done this to her brother, and if her brother had kept them away only to keep them safe…

She'd commit _treason_ gladly, because her brother hadn't earned this...and nobody, no-one, not a single living being deserved what Gaara had gone through…and she'd make sure the lesson would stick, _no matter what_.

Kankuro remained quiet. His thoughts drifted back to home. What was their father going to say? Gaara had been the Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi, and he had _died_. The plan to invade Konoha…to siege the village…it had just gone up in flames. And if their Jinchuuriki was that strong, then what hope had they had in the first time? Their father had to be talked out of this, as fast as possible.

'Kiba' cursed out loudly.

The arrow had pierced through the sides. The true aim of the arched had probably been to sever the spine, but thankfully his chunky movements had alerted Hinata who had turned enough to avoid that fatal blow…

Shino had been a life savior, creating a diversion of bugs to make sure they managed to lose their pursuers as they hid in a thick undergrowth patch of leaves. He had quickly extracted the arrow and bandaged the wound –there had been no other choice, the arrow could have been poisoned after all– before checking for anything to stem the blood loss. She would survive anyway, but unless aptly treated…she was prone to losing her mobility because of the wound. The only problem was that his Anbu supplies would have been more than enough, but his Genin-assigned ones? Not at all.

He had been ordered not to intervene during the exam, to surrender before the start of the third test. He was simply tasked with stopping the death of the Hyuga Heiress…not of making sure she could continue her Genin career unscathed.

He had a choice to make.

The girl was shivering, sweat falling down her face as she groaned and moaned in pain, her mouth clenching tightly against a chunk of wood. He had a choice…

And he would have to live with it, no matter what it was that he chose.

**Author's notes**

…

**Chapter's done. *Sniffles in a corner***


	25. The Blood Drying in the Darkness

Introverted

Chapter Twenty-Five

Jiraiya limped back to the tower, holding onto the charring black limb that once was his left arm. He had won. His teammate had been quicker, faster, and he had barely escaped with his life, but he had won. Orochimaru had retreated first. That was what the toad sage was thinking, as he wobbled up the stairs and was soon brought in the infirmary of the tower by the Medic Jounin assigned to it.

He wondered how his ex-teammate had managed to retain the same speed as in youth, but then again he already had many thoughts going around his mind —the Edo Tensei not the last of them.

The Kyuubi's presence had disappeared, and since there was no Ichibi frolicking around it either meant his godson had worked it out, or Orochimaru's plan had come to fruition. In any case, he could do nothing more than rest and hope to flush out whatever poisons the Kusanagi had excreted.

One thing however was unmistakable: Orochimaru worked for Akatsuki. The clouds on his cloak were proof of that.

As the Toad Sannin mulled over dark thoughts, Naruto Uzumaki was looking with a half-interested gaze at the dinner his teammates had managed to procure. Mushrooms that Sai had given the green-light to were tinged in polka dots, while strange tooth-filled creatures that resembled rabbits had been given a warily comestible value.

Cooking the stuff hadn't required much precaution. The burnt skin of the fish he currently hefted out on a stick smelled sort-of good, and in the pinch they were in would work wonders. He gazed to his right side, where Sakura seemed to be busying herself with cleaning and maintaining her kunai, while on his left Karin was yawning slightly, every now and then dropping her head against his shoulder.

He didn't know why, but it felt like being between a rock and a hard place.

"Is it ready?" Karin mumbled sleepily, purring as her cheek seemed to be pressing gently against his shoulder.

"What are you, five?" Sakura snapped back angrily. "Stand uptight for Kami's sake," she muttered. "You insufferable flirt."

Sai remained conveniently quiet in his corner, as he watched with impassiveness the two kunoichi glare at one another. He could swear there was a small line of electricity running across their eyes and meeting in the center, but then again it was probably the by-product of being tired.

They were resting behind a large tree, having covered the sides with larger plants and wide leaves. The third day was announcing itself to be extremely long, especially if this was how it began.

"Do we keep looking for more scrolls?" Sai asked, hoping to remove the tension.

"I don't know," Sakura mumbled. "We have one. We can let Naruto pass and—"

"Why me?" Naruto asked then carefully. "You or Sai should claim the scroll. I'm not so sure I want to keep going on the exam, especially alone."

"W-Well," Sakura blushed slightly. "We'd have to find the other scrolls. Unless we have a tracker, then we're…" her gaze went to Karin, who suddenly found herself the center of the attention of everyone else.

She made a hesitant smile. "I…I can find chakra, not objects."

"Look for three member teams going to the tower," Naruto quipped. "Shikamaru and Chouji won't be participating any longer I think, and since one team with three scrolls is clearly the Iwagakure one…"

"Oh right," Sakura clenched her right fist with a sadistic smirk. "They have a whore I need to settle a score with."

"Cherry, didn't they ever tell you never to kiss and tell?" Sai asked calmly, moving his head slightly to the side as silence descended in the clearing once more.

"What are you talking about Sa—" Sakura's eyes widened as the second meaning of Sai's words settled in. The moment it did, Sakura ground her teeth furiously. "Sai…" she charged ahead with murder in her eyes, grabbing the boy by the rim of his clothes and moving him furiously back and forth. "You perverted man!"

Naruto chuckled. He chuckled and slowly shook his head as he turned his gaze sideways.

"You can come out," he announced clearly. "We know you're there."

In a moment, Sakura's action became clear as Sai's form disappeared in an Ink clone —her distraction had served its purpose, as Shino found himself stepping forward with both hands up in the air and a Tanto clearly poised to strike him from the back.

Sakura had already taken out three needles, and was taking careful aim for the Aburame.

"Interesting. I thought I had covered my tracks perfectly. How did you find me?"

"You smell," Naruto retorted calmly. "Of honey."

Shino raised an eyebrow for a moment, before comprehension seemed to dawn on his face. "Ah…pheromones to guide the Kikkaichu. I didn't expect your nose was able to sense them. Is that another thing of having the Kyuubi sealed within you?" as soon as he asked, Sai's Tanto moved just a little bit closer as Sakura prepared herself to fire her needles.

"What do you want?" the pink-haired kunoichi hissed. "We're not giving you our scroll."

"I do not want that," Shino replied calmly, shaking his head. "I have come to term with the fact this exam will be my loss. Hinata has been grievously wounded, and we are moving towards the gate as we speak."

"We?" Naruto remarked quizzically.

"He's a Kikkaichu clone," Karin deadpanned, her eyes settling on the Genin. "It takes skill to hold one for so long."

"I thank you," the mass of insects remarked. "However time is of the essence: I have marked Team Nine with females from this swarm. The moment this clone disappears, the insects will fly towards their location. Should you wish for their stash of scrolls, then most certainly this should be considered…an olive branch from the Aburame clan to Uzumaki-san."

"What are you talking about?" Sakura's eyes were still narrowed in distrust. "Why should we trust you?"

"Why? Because I have no reason to go against someone who can clearly outclass me. Furthermore cooperation now may result in future benefits between my clan and him. He is the Jinchuuriki of Konoha, allying with him is the most sane and logical course of action in any event, short of being friends with the Hokage."

"Why didn't anyone else try this before?" Naruto muttered with his eyes glazed over. "I mean this 'ally' thing?"

"Uzumaki-san," Shino's clone actually brought his clone-bug glasses back to the top of his nose. "Who says they didn't try? All clans were stonewalled in the face of equity. The Hokage _alone_ should hold sway over the Jinchuuriki, and by that I intend that the Sarutobi clan could not come in contact with you either. That is the logical thing. You are, after all, the most dangerous individual of the village whether you understand it or not." Shino calmly looked to the sky. "This clone has now served its primary purpose and will disengage back into a mindless swarm. Choose quickly."

True to his words, Shino deformed into a mass of bugs that soon began to fly in a specific direction.

"Do we follow him?" Sai asked once, only to receive a nod from both Sakura and Naruto.

The breakfast wasn't forgotten —it was just eaten along the way.

"The rabbit tastes like jelly," Naruto grimaced as he jumped and took a bite at the same time, his eyes focused on the swarm of bugs. "Had worse, but it's disgusting."

"Want to swap with the mushrooms?" Sakura queried back calmly. "They taste like carton…except the dot area, those are spicy like pepper."

"Should we really be doing this?" Karin asked worriedly. "I mean…with everything that happened the day before, shouldn't Naruto-kun rest?"

"Don't act too familiar with my teammate," Sakura snapped curtly back at the crimson haired girl. "And it's Naruto's decision."

"No, it's ours," Naruto remarked calmly. "If someone doesn't want to…then nobody will. We'll give the last scroll to you Karin, and that will be that."

"Oh," Karin cooed, "How noble of you. You just know what to say to a _woman_ to capture their heart, don't you, _Naru-kun_?"

"Tsk. Shameless flirting bitch," Sakura mumbled with her eyes half-closed in disgust. She had never been like that with Sasuke, had she?

She shuddered. Of course she hadn't…that was in the past. An old Sakura had done that. She hadn't. She wasn't going to.

She's go for a mature and composed approach. She wouldn't flirt, she'd…romance? Was that how it worked between adults?

She had to ask her mother how she had managed to get father to love her.

And maybe polish her cooking skills.

"Sakura! Watch out!" it was in that moment that her neck felt the tension of a steel wire, before her body was pushed backwards by the strength of an explosion.

She had been so stupid, lost in daydreams as she was…she hadn't considered _traps_ to have been placed by their targets.

She felt blood slowly trickle down from her throat…had it been sliced? She was falling on the ground from the top of the trees —wasn't the fall lethal from that height? She couldn't find the strength to balance herself; her ears were ringing and her sight blurring. Why hadn't the explosion pulverized her? She realized there was a weight that had tackled her from her midsection.

She looked at the back of a figure covered in shrapnel and steel bits and pieces.

The hair was black.

The skin was pale.

_Sai had covered for her._

She lost consciousness the next moment, as she felt the momentum of the fall stop abruptly. Naruto had probably saved them both…hadn't he?

Meanwhile, Sasuke Uchiha was slowly walking towards the medic bay. The Chuunin, Kabuto Yakushi, had quietly come over the night before to talk about _Itachi_. He had apparently known his older brother for a bit, and seemed more than willing to tell him more should he wish to know about his older brother's days in Anbu. The medic Chuunin had apparently healed him quite a bit during that period…and Sasuke was curious, because any old wound badly healed could be a weakness to exploit.

He reached for the medic bay and opened the door with his left hand —his right arm was still in a cast, but it was going to come away any day now, and then he could finally start training. He entered to a sterile and green-colored environment with three white beds perfectly made and a pair of curtains separating them. On the side was Kabuto Yakushi, sitting at the nurse's desk with both his arms crossed over and his face sideways…_sleeping_.

The light breathing of the Chuunin startled Sasuke. Maybe he should have come later? Still, the other older boy wasn't a Chuunin for nothing, as he slowly woke up the moment he took a step inside the room.

"I'll be right ther— oh, Sasuke," Kabuto smiled as he stood up, scratching the back of his head in a bashed manner. "I'm actually embarrassed you saw me defenseless like that," he chuckled. "My sensei would kill me if he found out… anyway, what can I do for you? Are you scheduled to have the cast removed?"

"Itachi," Sasuke said curtly. "What else do you know about him?"

"Uhm…that's a broad question," Kabuto remarked. "One best answered while sitting. Sit on the bed, I'll take the chair and move closer."

Sasuke did that, annoyed slightly at the delay…then again, if he was to receive a lot of information it made sense. The pale haired Chuunin sat down near him, before crossing his arms over his chest and assuming a thoughtful position.

"Well," he began carefully. "What interests you the most?"

"His strength," Sasuke was quick to come to the answer. "How did he become so strong? He killed the entire clan in a single night, and nobody realized it. How could he do that alone? The Uchiha were the strongest…no, they _are_ the strongest."

"That's…an interesting question," Kabuto stated calmly. "His Anbu training certainly helped him a great deal, but what truly made him strong? That…" the boy began to muse over it for a while, "I think it was the desire to always prove himself. He always trained harder than any others, and he always fought harder than anyone else."

"That's no different than what I am doing," Sasuke hissed, "And yet I'm still not as strong as him. He was stronger than me by my age! He was already Anbu."

"Well, maybe he met someone during his missions?" Kabuto said then. "If he trained in Konoha and you did too, then it comes to term that he must have trained also outside of the village."

"But with who?" Sasuke remarked.

"It's simple, really," Kabuto stated calmly. "If he did train outside, it had to be with one of the Sannin or an S-rank shinobi at the very least. Maybe he met with Tsunade Senju? No, that would have made him a good healer rather than a killer…Jiraiya of the Sannin could be an answer."

"So it was because he had a good teacher, no, an excellent one?" Sasuke finally stated.

"Highly possible," Kabuto nodded. "Then again he always fought as if every battle was to the death…maybe that made him stronger too?"

"Our sensei told us to come at him with the intent to kill," Sasuke mumbled… "Maybe I should try?"

"That's your decision Sasuke," Kabuto commented. "You know, he used to talk about you a great deal," he added as if it was an afterthought. "He called you a troublesome little brother."

A nervous tick mark appeared on Sasuke's forehead. "He said anything else?"

Kabuto smiled for a moment, before adding. "He said he used to give you a flick on the forehead and tell you 'another time' if only to keep you quiet for the day." There was a wistful look on Kabuto's face, "He loved you dearly all the same."

"Yet he slaughtered the entire clan and let me live because I was weak," Sasuke hissed back. "Why? Why did he kill mother and father?"

"You know, Sasuke," Kabuto remarked calmly. "If he had wanted to let the weak live…then why did he also kill the children?" the Chuunin asked with curiosity. "He called you 'too weak to be worth it' but you certainly were stronger than an infant, weren't you? Yet he mercilessly slaughtered _everyone_ but you."

Silence descended in the infirmary.

"It sounds to me he either actually cared about you…" Kabuto added slowly, "Or someone _ordered_ him to spare you."

"B-But who would order him that?" Sasuke whispered with wide eyes. "There's…he was Anbu…they answer directly to the—" and his throat clenched tightly as he realized just what that thought led to.

"But the Uchiha were…"

"Well, I can't say there's any proof around," Kabuto remarked, "But then again, why are you alive if Itachi really didn't love you? And why aren't the children alive, if he didn't kill the weak? And what of the elderly?"

"I…I don't know," his eyes closed shut. "I'll have to ask him. I…How can I?"

"You should become stronger," Kabuto nodded sagely. "If you wish, I know just the thing…it is experimental, and has a high chance of being mortal…but if you survive, then it will make you undoubtedly stronger than any other of your peers, maybe even on par with Itachi himself."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed down. "Why are you helping me, Kabuto-san?"

"Because," Kabuto replied with a small smile, "I lost my family to betrayal too once," he shook his head with grief coming out from his tone. "Only, I never even had a chance for revenge…you, on the other hand…have."

"I need time to think," hastily, Sasuke stood up and walked towards the door.

"Take all the time you need," Kabuto replied, waving him off.

Unknown to the Uchiha, the wickedest smile ever to be seen had just then sprouted on the face of the medic Chuunin, as the retreating back of Sasuke disappeared from view.

Kurotsuchi looked at the dead bodies of the three Iwagakure shinobi that had taken the exam together with her. Somebody had not only killed them, but also apparently devoured their innards and used their exterior as…as a camouflage technique. She gritted her teeth as she kicked a nearby rock against a tree.

"Three shinobi dead," she muttered. "Three shinobi from Iwagakure dead and…argh, this reeks of Konoha politics." She looked at Jibachi and then at Akatsuchi, "you two, set a perimeter. We are not going to let any Konoha team pass through, understood? We'll teach them to—"

The ground rumbled and shook as a green-spandex clad Konoha shinobi literally dashed past them with unforeseen speed. There was a moment of silence, where not even Kurotsuchi dared to speak.

Then, finally, it was Akatsuchi who decided to state the obvious. "Fast."

"What the hell was that!?" Kurotsuchi screamed then.

"Kurotsuchi-sama," Jibachi said calmly. "I think the _thing_ had his teammates on his shoulders."

A nervous tick mark appeared on the Kunoichi's forehead. "After them, then!"

"They're mine," a voice calmly stated from behind her. She spun around just in time to be on the receiving end of a gut-punch, one that drove her very breath away as her mouth opened in shock. Her eyes were wide as she watched the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi stare at her with cold _crimson_ eyes charged with disgust. "They harmed my team," he hissed then. "But you will do as an _appetizer_," the Kyuubi smiled _sweetly_, before plunging his right hand _straight through her abdomen_.

She screamed in pain as he held her close, his left hand circling her shoulders as he spoke softly to her ear. "You know, Yang chakra heals wounds quickly. I can actually cauterize and heal your wound time and time again, before breaking it apart time and time again," this had to be the Kyuubi taking control —it couldn't be the Konoha Genin that spoke with such malice, "and the pain is excruciating. Literally…it is one of the strongest things I have ever felt and watched…" his crimson twin tails slashed away at an incoming fist from Akatsuchi, the stupid idiot trying to stop the monster from killing her.

She felt blood ooze out of her mouth, coppery and bitter to the taste as the tails stopped the stone-encrusted fist of her teammate and sent the Genin to fly back and crash against a tree bark. Jibachi wasn't even _trying_. In the back of her mind she realized he would probably be happy if she did die —he'd have his family next in the line of succeeding the Tsuchikage after all.

"You know," the Jinchuuriki commented. "I am going to take your scrolls. It is far easier than to pursue the other three. I will find them in the finals again after all, and there…there I will personally _butcher all three of them_." His eyes flickered with amusement from Jibachi to her, "And then again…you should choose your allies more carefully next time," he removed his fist from her body just as she saw the darkness at the corner of her eyesight. Her arms went down protectively to her stomach, that wasn't even sporting a wound…

But the pain had been there, and she had felt it all the same.

"Your blood tastes sweet, by the way," the Kyuubi coldly remarked lapping his bloodied hand. "And your chakra is bitter and filled with a malice you can't even discern…ah, spoiled children are a course I've had quite my fill in youth."

He grabbed her chin with his left hand, and then roughly kissed her back, his tongue licking her teeth for the blood she had felt the taste of in her mouth. She widened her eyes as the Kyuubi removed himself from her lips, before giving her one simple wink. "I felt the need to _return_ the favor of last time," he spoke firmly, as an answer.

The Kyuubi wearing the skin of its Jinchuuriki then walked towards Jibachi calmly, leaving behind a dumbfounded Kurotsuchi who had slowly brought two fingers from her right hand to touch her bloodied lips. "Give me the scrolls, before I decide killing you is worth my time."

The bug-user trembled in fright as he immediately handed over his entire bag. The stupid moron was going to get them killed! She couldn't stand because of the phantom pain still running across her body, but as she lay down there holding onto her stomach area, shuddering from the mere presence of such a monster near them, she felt a small weight thrown at her chest.

She looked with shock as one scroll was flung at her from the Kyuubi himself, a smile gracing the lips of the boy in question.

"I will taste _your blood_ in the finals. Do not think you can escape me…" the Kyuubi laughed. "The time spent stewing your fears will be my sweetest nectar, and I would be very angry…should you waste my time," then, with a simple nod in Kurotsuchi's direction, he jumped away.

The moment Naruto dropped down in the clearing near Karin and his two wounded teammates, the chakra cloak that surrounded him disappeared. He wobbled for an instant, before steadying himself and firmly grasping at the hilt of his Tanto.

"How are they?"

"They're stable," Karin said, turning around slightly to watch him. "Did you catch on to the other team?"

"I…The Kyuubi refused. I don't know _what_ he did…I lost consciousness and all I remember is a red haze, but I have two more scrolls now," he mumbled. "Maybe he killed two of them teammates?"

"Why don't you ask him?" she said back as she grabbed a clean piece of cloth to wash away the dirt from another of Sai's wounds. The pale skinned boy's back was riddled with shrapnel, the steel bits having no specific form and thus forcing Karin to open the wounds even more to remove them one after the other.

"I…I don't think he's going to answer me anyway," Naruto shook his head. "He doesn't do things because he wants to help me. He does things because they help _him_ in the long run." He blinked once. "He says that should be obvious."

"Your girlfriend got lucky by the way," Karin said calmly as she gestured towards Sakura's limp form. There was gauze around her neck, blotched with crimson from the bleeding wound probably. "One centimeter more and the steel wire would have cut through a few important blood vessels. She was lucky."

"Sai kept an eye out for her," Naruto remarked. "I should have too." He sighed, exhausted, as he dropped his back down against a tree trunk. "We have three scrolls…don't you want one?"

"No," Karin shook her head. "I…I don't want to. Maybe I'll stay a Genin a few more years," she added. "Plus, they say it's easier to be traded as a Genin than as a Chuunin from village to village," she said wistfully. "I still can't believe there's another Uzumaki around, in Konoha, no less…"

"You said something similar the last time too," Naruto pointed out. "What about your parents?"

"Raiders killed them," she snorted. "And the Uzumaki have separated since the fall of Uzushio…" she bit her lips, "You haven't read about it?"

"I have but…" Naruto grimaced, "There's not much in the library to go by. They simply stop mentioning the village after the last war."

"Course they do," Karin rolled her eyes. "Konoha left Uzushio to die after all." She steeled her gaze. "Kirigakure attacked from the sea, while Kumogakure came from the North. Uzushio was in the middle and was struck down…and then Konoha came by later, claiming to be our savior…" she spat out to the side, "While in truth they just claimed our territory for their own country. And what did we get back? They sew a whirlpool over their flak jackets. Wow, wonderful way of repaying our country's seal masters, our country's destruction…a fucking piece of cloth. That's the worth of Uzushio now in Konoha's memory…and many don't even _know_ that!"

"Weren't the Senju and Uzumaki…allies?" he asked. "I recall a Mito Uzumaki that…"

"Mito Uzumaki was the head of the clan Uzumaki back in the days when Uzushio was powerful. She married into the Senju line in order to keep the two countries allied, but annexation was _never_ on the table." Karin bit her lips. "The death of the First Hokage and the rise of the second didn't change things, but by the time the third war began Konoha was grievously indebted because of the warfare effort." She shook her head with a mirthless chuckle. "Seals are powerful. Jinchuuriki are the prime example —think of the power to hold at bay the Kyuubi! And it's just ink and chakra, isn't it? Such power…it bred jealousy," Karin closed her eyes shut.

"Uzushio was protected by such a complex array of seals that the only way in was to either be an ally or be someone with no ill-intentions against the village," the crimson haired girl smiled bitterly. "Somebody showed the way in to Kiri shinobi, and that night Uzushio _burned_. Shinobi, civilians, men or women didn't matter as their corpses floated in the crimson water of their docks. Building crashed down by the dozen as chakra techniques clashed throughout the city…by the end of it, Kumogakure attacked the fleeing masses barely outside the village. My mother always told me that the only way for them to know where the escape routes were…was to have been told by someone the Uzushio government trusted."

Tears slowly pooled down Karin's face as she choked out a half-strangled sob. "And all this… it happened after Mito Uzumaki died."

Naruto clenched his fists. He didn't feel as strongly as Karin this loss of his 'hometown'. He had never been born anywhere else, and he had never actually met in the flesh his parents. He was saddened he'd never meet more than stragglers of what once was supposed to be his cultural heritage, but he was actually sadder that Karin was crying out in frustration for what had happened decades before.

He slowly moved closer to the crying girl and hugged her gently, feeling embarrassed as he began to softly caress her red hair. He felt her hands grip firmly onto his clothes, before lowering his gaze to stare at her own shining crimson orbs. She was looking at him with something akin to hope, as slowly her face came closer and closer to his and her eyes began to close. He watched her lips pucker up slightly as she was inches away from pressing her lips against his.

Her lips had a light reddish hue of lipstick, and they looked so inviting actually that he was just about to move forward when …

"Dickless," Sai's monotone drawl actually broke the entire atmosphere, bringing Karin backwards embarrassedly and turning to face Sai who was eying them from his spot on the ground. "Should I change your nickname to Harem Lord?"

"Sai!" with a scream of relief Naruto jumped right next to the wounded boy. "Are you all right?"

"I'll be operative within tomorrow," he remarked calmly. "Kinky Cherry?"

"She's still unconscious," Naruto bit his lips as he looked over to the laid down form of Sakura. "And what's that about being a Harem Lord?"

"Dickless, I have eyes."

"Obviously," Naruto deadpanned back. "But I don't understand what you're—"

Naruto froze. He had been kissed, hadn't he? "The first doesn't count!" he exclaimed, "And the second was on the cheek, really! The third one was, is, can…I," as he stuttered and stammered, Sai merely looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Dickless, I can't believe you hadn't realized it yet," Sai deadpanned. "Are you without a brain or what?"

"Excuse me! I was worried about not dying, and you know, it's not easy to have to fight through an entire chakra mass of misery and then end up thrown right or left because there's an exam to pass! For Kami's sakes, I didn't have time to think even as I went in pursuit of the bastards who did this to you two!"

"Should I be touched?" Sai remarked calmly. "This isn't a double meaning. If you dare touch me I will chop your hand off. Keep your harem to females only, Dickless."

Naruto's shoulders began to move up and down as the Jinchuuriki's eyes closed. A hearty chuckle escaped his throat, soon followed by a slight shaking of the head. "Never change, Sai," he said simply.

"Clothes would start to stink after two days," he retorted.

"No, I meant…you know what? Never mind," Naruto sighed. "Karin, can we move Sakura?"

"Uh? No! At least not until the night is over!" she quickly said. Slightly blushing, the kunoichi from Kusagakure moved to take care of Sai's back once more, remaining silent as the two teammates bantered one with the other about size of dicks and proportions related to the number of women around Naruto.

She blushed more than once, but the slight feeling of warmth that her heart was feeling there and then remained lit all throughout the day. So much so that it actually stung, when she dipped the clothes in a low-action long term poison before cleaning Sai and Sakura's wounds once more.

Then again…Orochimaru-sama had given her an order, and who was she to refuse?

The fourth day Sakura was still unconscious, while Sai was instead up and moving —albeit slowly— around the camp. "One more day to go," he remarked. "We should move carefully towards the tower," he added then.

"Do you think they planned it like this?" Naruto suddenly asked. "I mean, with all teams with scrolls converging to the tower at the same time. If someone is without, they just have to wait in ambush."

"Who remains?" Sai was suddenly alert. "The two teams from Iwagakure, the Otogakure team and?"

"I think one member of Team Nine," Naruto whispered softly, "unless I stole the scrolls from someone else…and the Takigakure team too."

"So Iwagakure, one member of Team Nine, us three, and the three from Takigakure?" Sai asked for confirmation. "Well, it could be worse."

Naruto nearly bit his tongue. "Sai, why did you have to say that?"

"What?" puzzled, Sai raised an eyebrow. "What could be worse?"

"Yes, that one," Naruto sighed. He shook his head then, "I just know you called it on us."

Ryuzetsu was an Anbu-rank kunoichi from Takigakure. The fact she was not only lithe and small, but also with a young face, had been the reason she had been chosen to pass off as a Genin and enter the forest. The two teammates were Genin all the same, if only to enhance the 'genuine' feel of her team. She was rarely afraid of anything. She had faced and battled down countless Missing-Nin, had fought through seriously crappy missions and generally had upheld the laws of Taki to her best.

Yet even she had limits.

She didn't even stop to plan. The moment her gaze settled on the broken corpses of her two 'teammates' she simply dropped all pretenses of being a Genin and disappeared with the speed that only an Anbu could possess.

And not a second too soon, as the Otogakure team's archer found himself cursing out loud the loss of five of his best arrows at the same time.

The Otogakure team had two scrolls…it would have to suffice.

The last day saw the Tower's occupants make haste to the doors, readying themselves to welcome the arriving shinobi.

There was silence as three scrolls were hurriedly settled in three of the ten holes that surrounded the double doors of the tower. The next moment, the blurred form of a green spandex wearing shinobi ran in as fast as he could, kicking the door shut behind him and holding on his shoulders a green-faced Kunoichi and a utterly pissed off Hyuga Neji.

"Lee, let me down right now!" Tenten exclaimed angrily. "We're out of danger! He hasn't followed us since…"

"LEE-KUN!" the scream was accompanied by a slight shriek from Tenten, as the kunoichi was dropped unceremoniously on the floor soon followed by Neji too. The reason for this became apparent by the next scream, coming from the Genin in question.

"GAI-SAN!" and with those words Rock Lee went to crush-hug Maito Gai, who crush-hugged him back.

"LEE!"

"GAI-sensei!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"Somebody, dispel that Genjutsu," Kakashi coughed out slightly at the general mutter was the same around the other Jounin. "Well then, congratulation, now if you would—"

Three more scrolls were suddenly inserted, resulting in the doors opening wide once more to admit team Thirteen.

Yugao Uzuki actually felt pride at watching her three students stroll in, accompanied by a fourth one who simply moved to a corner and declared herself to have failed calmly. She didn't as much as give another glance to the crimson eyed girl, instead simply flickering down and stopping in front of the three.

"_AH IT'S HIM!_" the scream of Rock Lee was soon met with the green spandex Genin running as far as possible from Naruto himself. "Save yourself!"

The look of utter surprise on the rest of the present shinobi was equal, if not of fear coming from both Neji Hyuga and Tenten who slowly inched away from the arriving team.

Sakura coughed slightly, holding onto her neck wound that was badly itching by then. Sai too looked pale, as he carefully seemed to be leaning on Naruto who was supporting him through.

"Infirmary, all three of you," Yugao deadpanned, even as she realized Naruto was completely unscathed. Then again… "And a report, later."

"Yes, sensei," Naruto mumbled while nodding, before helping Sai out of the room.

The doors slowly were opened once more as a mixed team came in. One member from the Takigakure group firmly held the scroll, followed by one member of the Iwagakure team and two from the Otogakure group.

"Very well," Kakashi coughed once more to get everyone's attention. "All participants, to the infirmary. The winners may come back here afterwards to receive further news. Inform your Jounin-sensei of the last known location of your teammates' bodies if they died, or where they are hiding if still alive."

Kakashi eye-smiled once more. "It will be all for the moment…well done in surviving the second part of the exam, all of you."

And with those words, the second exam was officially brought to a close.

"Orochimaru-sama?" a voice whispered in the darkness. "We have succeeded."

"Well done," the snake Sannin remarked. "Very well done…Kidomaru, Tayuya. What of the distractions?"

"The Kiri shinobi were annihilated all but one; the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki strength is ascertained. The Ichibi container was killed."

"Very well then," Orochimaru said calmly. The loss of the Ichibi changed nothing…if not that it forced his hand with the Kazekage. "I will warn the rest of the organization. Operation Breadcrumbs begins now," the snake Sannin closed contact, letting his image shimmer away.

The bigger picture…

Orochimaru's golden eyes settled on the map of the elemental countries. His right hand opened like a palm over Konoha, the five fingers spread evenly. "Fools," he breathed out. "Utter fools."

He chuckled. A sickening laughter soon escaped his mouth. "I will show them what it means, to lose all that is precious to them! Your precious village will crumble to dust, sensei! I warned you once! I told you twice! And thrice…thrice did the world try and stop this," with his hand's nails, he clawed the map leaving behind deep gashes. "Now, once more, the price will be paid. You will not listen!? Then I will force you to! Listen to the screams of the world, Sensei! Listen as I drown in an ocean of flames and blood all that you cherish!"

He broke through the sides of his tent, to watch at the amassed forces of his village, the village of sound, preparing for _war_. "In a month…" he whispered to himself, gazing at the lines of tents. "In a month…"

He sighed.

"Let there be war!" and as he clenched his right fist up in the sky, he laughed even louder, the moon's unyielding presence a constant reminded of the bigger picture…at least, to his madness filled brain.

**Author's notes**

**The Bigger Picture.**

**Second Exam done. **

**What happened to Hinata? Next chapter (maybe).**

**Ryuzetsu is the Anbu from blood prison (Girl).**

**(She should actually be from Kusa.)**

**The winners of the second bout are:**

**Naruto. Sai. Sakura.**

**Neji. Tenten. Rock Lee.**

**Kurotsuchi. Kidomaru. Tayuya. Ryuzetsu.**

**Ryuzetsu does not know the Oto team killed her teammates.**


	26. The Bloody Gathered Fruits

Introverted

Chapter Twenty-six

Hiruzen took a deep puff of smoke before leaving his lit pipe in the hands of a Jounin nearby. He made a small smile as he adjusted his Hokage hat and then, calmly, he took the stage from Kakashi Hatake, the third proctor for the Chuunin exams.

"Welcome," he said proudly as he watched the ten ninjas who had survived the second trial stand shoulder to shoulder. To the uttermost left was Naruto, his cerulean eyes settled on him with a burning gaze of determination. He couldn't help but smile at such eagerness. His teammates stood next. Danzo's 'failure' was a pale skinned boy who barely held himself up with the use of a crutch, probably because of his back injury. He'd need time to recuperate.

Then was Sakura Haruno, the civilian kunoichi. She had a fire in her eyes that one, even if she looked mildly uncomfortable and had trouble swallowing, if the grimaces she made every now and then were of any indication. It had probably to do with her neck wound.

The Takigakure kunoichi, Ryuzetsu, was next. She stood tall and firm with an uptight posture. Kurotsuchi of Iwagakure was next, her eyes fearful and glancing towards Naruto every now and then. He couldn't help but wonder what the boy had done to make her so scared, but then again he would ask for their reports later on, through Yugao.

"The exams you have partaken in," he began slowly, "are a substitute for war." Calmly, he brought up his right hand. "Each of you who passed was forced to make choices in order to survive. You have held true to your beliefs, or maybe to your comrades. You have forged alliances or backstabbed each other at night. You have fought, bled and battled across five days…how did it feel? Was it something nice? Did it make you feel happy? I hope the answer was no," he finished with a grimace.

"These exams are a substitute for war, that is true, but they are not an excuse to kill or murder without cause. In the face of death, allies are the strongest bonds you can have. The loss of your teammates, the anger and the hatred you feel right now because of it must not drown the fact that you allied with other shinobi from other villages. Remember that culprits are not the entirety, but only the single individual who threw the kunai, who sliced the throat…do not accuse the majority of the faults of the single man or woman."

There was a loud sigh as the third Hokage then removed his hat from his head and made a simple but powerful bowing gesture. "I am sorry if any of you lost your precious friends to this exam." He stood back up stiffly a moment later. "But do not let that pain cloud your judgment. Understand that pain, make it yours, and then think if you would like to deliver it onto others. Would you? That is a vicious cycle that will never be broken, unless someone accepts and understands it…and _refuses to rekindle the flames of war_."

"In a month of time," he said then clearly, "there will be the final and public part of this exam. The members of the various courts around the lands of the Elemental Countries will converge in Konoha to watch you fight for the honor of becoming a Chuunin, of becoming a higher ranked shinobi of your village. I cannot speak for your own Kage, but know this: they will be certainly as proud of you on that day, whether you win or lose, as I will be for my own ninja." He nodded towards Kakashi, who stepped forward with a small covered casket.

"Come one at the time and take out a number," Kakashi drawled, gesturing to Naruto to head near him first.

Naruto's number turned out to be four. Sakura's was one and Sai held number seven. Kurotsuchi ended up with number five, and Ryuzetsu was nine. Neji Hyuga turned out to be number two, while Rock Lee went to number eight. Tayuya of Otogakure became number ten, and Kidomaru received number six. Tenten was number three.

"Sakura Haruno will fight Hyuga Neji," Kakashi stated then calmly. "Tenten Satou will fight Naruto Uzumaki, Kurotsuchi of Iwa will fight against Kidomaru of Oto, Sai Satou will fight Rock Lee, Ryuzetsu of Taki will fight Tayuya of Otogakure."

There was silence as the each shinobi watched their opponent. Yugao swallowed silently. Sai was the one guaranteed an easy win, Naruto would have to sweat it, but she was sure he would pull through…Sakura on the other hand…

Even training her to the death would not yield enough results in a month to put her on par with the Hyuga. Secretly teaching her techniques would not work either. Apprenticing her under a kunoichi would do nothing in that short frame of time. Literally, the pink-haired kunoichi beneath her guide was screwed even before starting. Thankfully, it seemed as if the girl had realized that too, because her eyes had already gone towards her teammates with a defeated gaze.

She'd give up before starting —nobody was going to fault her for that. She winced as she remembered the pain of a few attacks from the Gentle Fist style she had suffered during her Anbu training. They weren't pretty at all.

"The Great Konohagakure Arena will be open in one month, do not be late," and with those words, the Sandaime turned and left. In a moment, Jounin-sensei flocked to their respective teams, just like Yugao did too appearing right in front of Naruto.

"You did well," she began. "Did the medic check you lot for toxins? Poisons? Anyone needs another round of vaccinations?" she hoped her voice wasn't fussy. She was never worried about her Anbu squad because they usually knew what they were doing anyway, but with…_children_, you never knew if they took their shots or not.

"I'm fine Sensei," Naruto answered back, "But my teammates…"

"I'm fine," Sakura's voice was barely hearable. It came out softly, raucous and with effort as the girl winced while talking. "Hurts a lot to speak…throat itches…"

"The medic changed the bandages and applied anti-septic," Yugao muttered giving a quick glance over to the girl. "It's never enough. Enemies might have used poison on their weapons after all. Sai? Do you want to try and lie about your pain too?"

"No sensei," was what the pale boy muttered as he held himself steadfast to Naruto's shoulders with his other arm. "I don't trust Dickless holding me too close. He might lose himself to my perfection and try and touch me."

Naruto snorted. "I think he's fine, can I drop him, sensei?"

"You will not," Yugao remarked with a small smirk on her face. "I'll have you do a full check-up at the hospital then. Let's get out of here."

As she turned to leave, Naruto began to follow quietly for a few minutes, before he frowned and spun to raise an eyebrow at Sakura's still form.

"Sakura?"

"Ah…sorry," Sakura's face betrayed her grief. She grimaced as she began to walk next to him. "Naruto?" she whispered with pain clearly visible on her features as she tried to speak. "What happened…in the forest?"

"I'll tell you later," he replied in a hushed tone. "When you and Sai are both fine."

"Dickless," Sai quipped from his shoulder. "I am fine."

"Right," Naruto rolled his eyes. "How are we going to leave the training ground, sensei?" he asked then, as the thought suddenly crossed him. It had taken them a few days to reach the tower, how could they leave without doing the same?

"There's an underground river," Yugao remarked. "The above water is channeled through a pressurized tunnel. We sit on a boat and the water does the rest. We'll be near Training Ground Seven by the time the pressure drops."

With a look of understanding, Naruto remained quiet for the rest of the trip…even though he couldn't help but feel that the gaze that Sakura was sending him meant the girl wanted to ask something else.

The travel back was indeed a really short-lived thing, if only for the fact that once seated they were strapped to a few chairs and then pushed at incredible speed through a dark and damp hallway half-filled with water. It was definitively a new experience, a fun one to boot, but even then one short lived and staled by the fact he was more worried about his teammates' injuries rather than the ride.

The moment his sensei grabbed hold of both Sakura and Sai, he watched her leave in a hurry to the hospital and began to instead walk that way too.

He was now alone —walking along the streets as the sun slowly was starting to die over the horizon once more. He hadn't had lunch, and he didn't even feel like it, but then again maybe he could bring something to Sai? He didn't know about Sakura's parents…they were probably going to be warned their daughter was in the hospital to begin with. Sai on the other hand…he had no-one, had he?

His mind made, Naruto began to jump quickly away from the roads and for the rooftops, before jumping down in front of his home and entering in quickly. Danzo-sensei wasn't home, and after leaving a quick note behind he was soon out once more, headed towards Hebi.

He hoped they did take-away.

He entered the corner shop only to find it filled to the brim, with a few groups standing in queue. He bit his lips furiously as he watched the line move forward slowly…if this kept up, he'd have to stay there the entire night!

"If it isn't Sakura's teammate!"

The owner of the establishment had been making his rounds, but at his sight he simply dropped the plates to another waiter and headed over to him, grasping his hand with both of his and tightly shaking it. "Well my boy! How did it go?"

"Ah! Ehm…Kuro-san? Well, really," he stammered out surprised by such amicability. "It went well," he added. "We all passed, but Sakura and Sai are both at the hospital so…"

"So you came here to get something to bring over there?" the owner smiled brightly as he gave him a friendly pat on the back. "Well done my boy! We'll make a gentleman out of you yet!"

There were a few grumbles as he was literally pushed not only to the top of the line, but also beyond that. "So, who else passed?" the owner asked as he carefully began to select some pastries from one of the glass cases. "And don't worry: this is on the house! Passing even one of the Chuunin exams alive is something that needs celebration anyway!"

"Ah! Thank you!" Naruto bowed quickly and uncomfortably as he felt far more gazes than usual on his back. "Well, two teams from Konoha passed, a kunoichi from Taki and from Iwa too…and two Oto shinobi."

"Otogakure shinobi?" the owner raised an eyebrow. "Oh well, must be that new shinobi village that was built in the land of rice recently." Kuro appeared thoughtful for a moment. "What would you like to eat? I've gotten down Sakura's favorites and your other teammate's tastes are pretty simple…"

"Ramen," he replied slowly. "If it's possible."

"Everything's possible," Kuro winked at him. "As long as you keep on trying."

Five minutes later Naruto was jostling four different plastic bags as he reached for the hospital's entrance. He stopped before setting foot inside —with his luck, they'd confiscate his food before long. He was torn, but that didn't last long.

"Naruto!" his sensei voice reached him from a few floors above, at a window that overlooked on the main road. "We're here!"

He nodded and smiled back, before starting to run up on the wall all the way to the window and within the sterile looking room. He dropped the bags delicately on the bed-desk, and then gave a careful look to his teammates' conditions.

Sai had been literally strapped to the bed with his back upwards.

"Dickless, if you are having any strange ideas…kill them," he muttered as he watched him with interest. Sakura just smiled and made a small wave in his direction, before taking out a small tablet of chalkboard to write on.

_Can't stress my voice, doctor's orders. Hit Sai for me._

"No violence allowed in the room," Yugao quipped quickly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Naruto, what did you bring?" as soon as his sensei asked that, Naruto felt queasy. He hadn't considered the woman when he had gone for food, but then again Kuro had been the one to give him four plastic bags rather than three…was the man able to see the future or something?

Going by exclusions, and keeping the Ramen for himself, he had an assortment of pastries for Sakura and a strange vegetable soup for Sai. His sensei was apparently given the benefit of doubt with various pieces of cheese, ham and fish assorted together.

"Sakura can't eat solid things yet," Yugao spoke softly eying the pastries. "Doctor's orders…"

"Cherry can have my soup," Sai stated firmly. "Anything is better than hospital food."

There was some sort of firm commitment in those two sentences that actually touched Sakura's heartstrings. It was as if Sai really cared that nobody else had to ever suffer from hospital food as long as he could avoid it. Maybe he had been sick for a long time, and that was the reason?

"I understand you," Naruto shuddered. "Do you think they purposefully make it horrendous, so sick people heal faster and leave for better food?"

"Hospital kitchens use low amounts of salts and spices, because they cater to a wide variety of clinical cases that might or might not die depending on the amount used," Yugao stated. "It is bland, I admit, but far better than roasted newts…and at least it isn't poisoned."

Sakura coughed slightly. Her right hand grabbing the water cup near her bed and taking a sip from it quickly.

She breathed out afterwards, gently letting the vegetable soup on the bed desk before grabbing her chalkboard and writing.

_Sai, how can you eat something like that!? It's scathing my tongue!_

"The warmth makes you feel fresher afterwards," the pale skinned boy remarked calmly. He couldn't, after all, claim it was just a foolish child's idea that eating a boiling hot soup could remove a seal designed to keep him in check placed on his tongue. Furthermore it wasn't as if he hadn't acquired a particular taste for that type of food. Maybe his seal would really fall off if he ate enough spicy…

"Sai, ever thought of turning your food into a weapon?" Naruto asked clenching his nose shut after giving a hesitant sniff to the soup. "I mean…_what is in there_?"

"Spices."

"Yeah, I got that from the stinging in my eyes…but what's in there precisely?"

"Peppers."

"And?"

"More peppers?"

"So it's a pepper soup?"

"Mustard is in there too," Sai quipped. "And Ginger, Cinnamon, Paprika and Coriander."

"Let me guess…the green bits, they're pepper too?"

"Chili pepper," Sai nodded. "And there's also Fennel and Garlic."

"And this is what you usually order at Hebi?" Naruto's face was morphed in disbelief. "How did you manage to convince the cook?"

"I handed over the recipe the day before," Sai remarked. "They placed it in the menu afterwards."

"Wait, the Death Soup? That's what you usually eat!?" Naruto's voice rose of just an octave, before he clamped a hand against his mouth. "Really?" he hissed out. "You know Sai…I didn't think you were suicidal."

"Dickless, you should taste it before complaining," Sai replied.

"No thanks, I like my tongue where it is," Naruto said as he shook his head gently.

There was silence in the room for a few moments, as finally the fact that they had _passed_ the second part of the exam _seeped in_ in its entirety.

"We passed," Naruto whispered silently, clutching his chopsticks. "We did it."

The tic-tac of the chalk on the board from Sakura announced that the girl was writing something too.

_Yes, and I got Neji…I'll have to wait next time to get promoted with him as my enemy._

"That's not true, Sakura! You just need a good strategy. We have a month of time…we'll come up with something!"

"So does the enemy," Yugao remarked. "That is why it would be pointless to get your hopes up," the Jounin sighed. "The Hyuga branch family has access to many techniques of the Gentle Fist. Sure, you can be guaranteed not to be pelted by Kunai or Explosive tags, or risk being charred by Katon jutsu, but it doesn't mean you'll be able to win."

"Sensei!"

"Naruto, listen," she snapped back curtly. "Hyuga Neji is considered not only a prodigy within his own clan, but also the best among his peers. Sakura has no chance on an arena ground, on a one against one, to win. It is simply the way of things. Was this a battlefield, was this a no-laws arrangement, then she would had a chance and I would have trained her for it myself. As things are? She does not stand a chance."

"B-but!" Naruto stammered out, his right flailing quickly. "We reached the exams together! We aren't going to stop and—"

"She just has to put up a good fight," Yugao replied calmly. "Sure, winning against the Hyuga prodigy would guarantee her promotion to Chuunin, but also showing off her skills would do the same even if she were to lose."

She narrowed her eyes. "The one I'm actually worried about is Sai's match," she looked over to the raven haired boy. "Rock Lee was promoted without usage of Chakra…he has been personally trained following Maito Gai's regime, and the _man is a monster_. If there's a tough opponent, then it will be him." She shook her head slightly. "Nothing you can't beat with the correct tactic however; he _is_ a pure Taijutsu user after all."

"No worrying over me?" Naruto asked, mocking a pout.

Yugao rolled her eyes. "I ask you do not kill your opponent, Naruto," she sighed. "I heard what happened from Sai already. I thought better of you: to leave your teammates' health in the hands of a foreign ninja, all because of revenge? I suppose now is as good of a time as ever to say it…"

She looked from Sakura to Sai, before settling on Naruto with cold eyes.

"Naruto…you disappointed me terribly during your exam."

Naruto's eyes widened briefly as the words sunk in. "You blinded yourself with rage, and forgot that had the ninja wanted to, she could have easily killed both Sai and Sakura before disappearing in the forest until the end of the exam. Allied village or not, what you did was…" she exhaled and calmly set her face to stone, "stupid. Irresponsible. Completely out of character. Had you been in Anbu I would have you expelled and stripped back down to Genin, but since you are a Genin I suppose you will have to suffer through my tongue lashing…what the hell were you thinking?! You are supposed to be the one to provide first-aid to your wounded teammates always! Even with allied village shinobi nearby, you must be the first aid provider!"

He took a step back as the ex-Anbu kept on speaking hotly against him.

"Not only that, but you left them alone —wounded and unconscious— in the hands of a perfect stranger! What if she had been a kunoichi from Iwa, who had simply stolen a forehead protector? What if she had been under a Henge to appear as someone else!? You had no means of knowing her real intentions, no means of discerning her true motifs, and yet you outright went and left your two teammates in her hands! Naruto Uzumaki, what the hell were you thinking!?"

He flinched and lowered his gaze, clenching his fists.

"I…I…" he choked on the words that wanted to come out from his throat too. He wasn't going to be of any use anyway! Better to leave them with Karin and go after the enemy team! Karin was family, she was an Uzumaki and there was no way she'd…

"And there is a reason I am telling you this," Yugao spoke finally as she turned her eyes to stare at all three of them. "After you were examined, I was told by the attending physician of the presence of a long-action poison in your bloodstream. It had seeped in through the open wounds, and there is a high chance that either the weaponry used was coated with it, or the one attending to you poisoned you hoping you would die within the end of the week."

Naruto's world crashed down. He could hear it break. He could hear the chinks and the cracks spread as he tried to merge the image of Karin as an Uzumaki, as family, with that of a cold-hearted monster that had poisoned his team.

"B-But _why_?" he croaked out, feeling pain as those two words took all of his willpower to pronounce.

"Who knows," Yugao hissed back as she watched Sakura furiously write on her chalkboard.

_I knew the bitch wasn't to be trusted! I knew it! See!? I told you so!_ She actually wrote three exclamation marks, followed by tapping furiously with the chalk against the board before giving a look of smug satisfaction.

"In any event," the Anbu remarked, "I hope this serves as a lesson, Naruto," her voice lowered calmly. "Because of your so well placed trust, the poison had the chance to work for two full days. Sai will need rehab to lift more than his backpack beyond his shoulders, and Sakura's voice? _It might just as well be gone_."

Sakura's eyes widened as her hands clasped to her throat. No, she had spoken before, it wasn't 'gone'. The effect on Naruto, however, was far more profound. His eyes looked hollow as his own right hand had gone to his throat as the boy was grimacing. "I…I…I didn't know…I…"

"I hope you have understood the lesson, Naruto," Yugao replied frostily, before her tone suddenly changed back to the same worried-sensei she had used before that. "In any event you will receive training specifically against your first encounters, all three of you, as I found someone willing to help me out with it. Sai will need to play on Genjutsu to win against Rock Lee and I know just the Jounin for it. Sakura will receive some pointers from a friend of mine and as for you, Naruto…" here she sighed. "I have a shinobi who literally _begged_ to be granted permission to train you. So you'll report to training ground Seven tomorrow, since he was apparently certain you would emerge unscathed."

Then she blinked and began to eat calmly, as if nothing else had happened.

"Well? Why are you not eating?" she asked once more, completely emotionless. "It will get cold."

It was then that it settled on them that there was something wrong with their sensei. She had delivered an important piece of information about an ally of Konoha, a Kusagakure kunoichi trying to poison two of the Genin assigned to her, and then she had gone back to…normal?

There hadn't been any incensed anger except for the verbally tearing down of Naruto's folly, and even then she had quickly acted as if it was in the far distant past a moment later.

_I may never have my voice back, sensei?_

The quietly written words on the chalkboard were read by Yugao and Naruto, who was on the same side as the Jounin.

"You'll probably be unable to scream again —the poison was viciously attacking your vocal chords by the time the tower medic gave you the routine anti-venoms. If you had been sent to the hospital a day later…you would have probably lost your voice entirely, if not your life." She then proceeded to shrug. "It's not uncommon for shinobi to return home from missions and then drop dead five minutes later. It's an intimidation act that works most of the time."

"But there's no proof it actually was Karin," Naruto muttered then. "It could have been the traps."

"Sure," Yugao nodded. "I am not berating you for not having attacked the Kusa kunoichi. I am berating you for having implicitly trusted her. The action could have been done by the Konoha team who set the traps, not knowing it would be another allied team who went in their pursuit…everything is possible, but I highly doubt someone would smear with poison their kunai or traps with such a long-action poison…it would be completely meaningless. If they knew they would still be checked by their Jounin-sensei afterwards."

"So…it either was Team Ten…or Karin?" Naruto asked then to be sure.

"Or someone you didn't see. Someone might have found a bush of berries and poisoned them before leaving, hoping another team would stumble upon them and end up poisoned. There is no certainty unless seen and proven, Naruto. That is why Konoha stresses on the teammates and the bonds. You must have someone to trust _implicitly_; otherwise you end up breaking before long in our line of business."

"It is not paranoia, if the entire world is out to get you," Sai stated sagely. "Dickless, don't think too much. Your brain can't handle more thoughts than kissing after all."

"Sai!" Naruto exclaimed back. "Stop it you…you pervert!"

"Pervert?"

"Yes!" a light suddenly shone through Naruto's eyes, as Sakura's too seemed to light in amusement. At the same moment as the Genin spoke, the Kunoichi wrote.

_Sai's nickname is Pervert from now on!_

"We'll call you Pervert then! It's decided!" Naruto clenched his right fist triumphantly. "We spent months not knowing what nickname to give back. Now it's done! I'm Dickless, she's Cherry and you're Pervert! With all your talk on dicks I'm surprised it took me more to realize it! There! _You. Are. Pervert_!"

Sai's eyes widened as Naruto finished talking.

He had a nickname. His shock must have been apparent, because both Sakura and Naruto looked back at him with perplexity. He quickly schooled his features a moment later. Danzo-sama would be mad if he dared to show any emotions on his face. Then again, wasn't he a failure of the Root program? And if he was a failure…wasn't he entitled to make mistakes?

"Pervert." He commented back to the blond. "Still better than Dickless…and Sakura is _Kinky_ Cherry, no use hiding _her own perversions_."

There was a small smile on Sai's face there and then, something which wasn't missed by his teammates, who just grinned back.

Yugao felt her throat constrict slightly. She palmed a hand to her face and exhaled slowly.

Of all the rotten luck in the world…she had the one to be saddled with a team of perverts. If any of her sons or daughters —because she fully intended to give Hayate a full family— ever tried to nickname each other like that…she'd probably start evasion practice on them with blunt weapons.

As it was, two of them were recuperating in the hospital's beds and couldn't be subjected to the routine, and the third one had been tong-lashed by her enough for the day. She sighed and reclined her back against the chair, her gaze wondering to outside the window.

It was such a beautiful day…

In a room further down the same hallway, Hiashi Hyuga clenched both of his hands as he watched his daughter fight for her life in the intensive care unit. The doctors were working on her constantly —the best that money, fame, influence and power could buy— and yet there was little hope for more than stabilizing her. His gaze landed firmly on the two teammates that had refused to leave, one was an Aburame, while the other was the undercover Anbu whom he probably had to thank for saving his daughter's life.

He had been given a quick report from one of the Branch members assigned to the hospital —the Byakugan was a far cleaner way to check for fractures after all, and many members of the second half of the clan worked as medics or nurses— and the news had been grave indeed…but still better than what he had expected.

He walked briskly in front of the two, their eyes widening as they watched him stand in front of them, and widening even further when he made a firm bow towards them.

"In the name of the Hyuga clan…I thank you for saving my daughter's life."

He stood back up after a good minute had passed, letting the shock of the action sink in as the one who recovered first was the Aburame Genin.

"Hinata is a prized member of our team. It was our honor."

"There's no need, Hyuga-sama, we did what anyone else would have done," 'Kiba' hastily added.

"In any case," Hiashi said. "You did the Hyuga clan a great service." And an even greater one to him too...

Hinata was never meant to be a Kunoichi. Sure, tradition _imposed_ that to become the heir of the clan, but now…now there would be no hard feelings. The arrow that had struck had literally torn through her sides, piercing her lung and damaging her spine.

She would no longer be able to walk.

She would no longer be able to fight.

She would leave the shinobi forces because of the life-threatening injury and remain home, where he'd find her a suitable match…and with that there wouldn't even be a need to place a Cage Bird seal on her forehead: where would a cripple go after all? And if they couldn't protect her from the safety of the main house, then clearly there was something wrong with their guards.

As Hiashi thought of this, a small burst of Morse code made its way through a small and portable antenna towards a relay tower hidden deep within the trunk of a tree. From there, the message bounced off two more hidden relays, before finally hitting a main deciphering station deep in the bowels of Land of Lighting first line of defense: the Hachibi Mountain.

The message was deciphered and then recoded, before being sent once more to another station which applied the same procedure. Eventually, the small strip of paper that was the message reached the desk of the Raikage.

Five simple words were written on it, five words that had been part of a plan years old, since the first time peace had been declared between Kumo and Konoha.

_A bird is caged free._

A crumpled the paper, which burst to flames through the output of electricity. Calmly, the man stood up and crossed his arms behind his back as he straightened up, before turning to watch the surface of his desk piled with paperwork.

"Mabui?" he said then, after having pressed the button on his desk that was meant to communicate with his assistant. "Send a message to the Hokage. Kumogakure will gladly send a representative and a bodyguard to watch the tournament this year. They will arrive within the end of the week…so strongly word to the Hokage that he is to expect them."

"Raikage-sama? Of course, it will be done."

Sighing, A crossed both arms in front of his chest this time.

He wouldn't be going. There were no shinobi or kunoichi of Kumo who had participated in the exams, and he had no intention of suffering through 'diplomatic' talks with the Hokage. A shinobi shouldn't bow and drink half-poisoned tea with another. They should fight and die against one another, never yielding, never stopping.

He glimpsed at the papers on his desk.

To think he could incinerate a mountain if he wished…and yet he was forced down by the paperwork.

Maybe he'd take one page out of Killer B's book and go on a vacation somewhere else. The mountains to the North had a particularly nice weather this time of the year around…

"Raikage-sama? Who should I notify for the honor of going to Konoha?"

A show of force would do good, really good, but he wasn't going to move his brother from his position. The Jinchuuriki were weapons both of mass destruction and also of mass _defense_. The Hachibi's power could easily topple mountains…and also shield the village with barriers of lightning with ease.

"Yugito Nii will do as the ambassador. She's cool headed enough not to claw the face off the Sandaime. As a bodyguard…I will need constant updates on the situation. Mabui?"

"Raikage-sama," Mabui replied smoothly. "The last time I left, you disappeared for three months."

"It was just the spur of the moment…an act of rebellion in my youth," he replied with a slight sweat-drop on his forehead. "It won't happen again."

"I understand, Raikage-sama. I will warn Nii-sama and prepare myself."

A sighed in relief. Now, he just had to plan his own way to the Northern Mountains…

Orochimaru meanwhile smiled as he whistled a jingle, his golden eyes settling on the troops readying themselves to march. He grimaced at the sight of a small girl of barely ten, standing in line like the others and readying herself as if she were a kunoichi. Who let children in to begin with?

"You," he pointed towards her and she suddenly froze and stood to attention. "Your name."

"O-Orochimaru-sama! I d-don't have one!"

So it was one of the 'desperation orphans' born out of wedlock or a whore and left in the middle of nowhere to fend off for themselves. Nine times out of ten they died before their first year. Those who survived were usually jaded…but she didn't have the stern look or the antagonizing gaze that usually characterized those who survived the world.

No, she had to have become an orphan recently. She probably believed fighting against the enemy would bring her parents back, or at least die in revenge. She was a menace for the cohesion of any unit…and frankly, his army didn't need mascots.

"Then you're Hebi from now on. Follow me, I need an assistant." He turned and walked to leave, turning just enough to watch her quickly scamper to obey him even with her short legs. He smiled to himself.

It felt like having another Anko. He could get used to it if she also did a smiling face every time he presented her with _something_.

Kakashi Hatake stood silently watching the cenotaph of the shinobi killed in mission. Their names, their age, their date of death had been neatly scrawled on all of them. All those who had died defending their village, all those who had become 'heroes' were written there.

There was a single gash where a name was supposed to be. That was where originally his father's name had been, before he had chosen to save his team and come back rather than pursue a suicidal mission.

It had jumpstarted a war, his decision…hundreds had died just so he could save his team. A team that had then proceeded to get killed in a following mission, after his father had committed suicide.

He had grown up trying to remove that stain from his family's name since birth. He had trained; he had fought in a war his father had caused and lost friends, cherished bonds and his other father-figure all the while trying to survive through it all. And then…then he had even been taken away the chance to train his sensei's son.

There was a limit. So what if he had all but begged Yugao?

So what if he had let his mask down and had literally dyed his own hair black?

So what…if he had worn a greasy looking black eye-patch and swung his forehead protector over his shoulder?

He looked completely different, he felt completely different. He gently turned as he heard the soft footsteps of his charge make way towards him, and he couldn't help but smile. It was like looking at a smaller version of Minato-sensei…with whiskers and…hadn't he dyed his hair black? Why was it blond once more? Had he dyed it back in less than a day?

"Navy blue?" he asked calmly, eying the dark blue colored jumpsuit the boy was wearing.

It reminded him so much of his sensei it wasn't even funny. Lost as he was reminiscing, he didn't realize that Naruto was eying him carefully like a predator would a prey.

"Ah, I like the color," he stammered out back.

_If he makes a mistake…I'll have an opening to ask about my father._

"And if he doesn't, you dyed your hair back to normal to appear once more inconspicuous with the population," the Kyuubi remarked calmly. "You know, Naruto?" Kurama said with a slightly hesitant tone. "Maybe…maybe I was mistaken about you earlier," he said then dutifully. "If you ever need my help…do not hesitate to ask."

Naruto's eyes widened for a brief second, just as Kakashi Hatake 'presented' himself.

"I am Hakashi Katake," he began gruffly. "Because of reasons I can't explain, I have a debt to repay with someone I can't tell you of," as a lie, it was pretty smooth, wasn't it? "Thus I will train you in preparation of the exams…understood?"

"Yes, sensei," Naruto remarked with a small smile and a quick bowing gesture. "I am Naruto Uzumaki. I am in your care."

Polite was always underestimated, after all.

Yagura flinched. The Sanbi refused to cooperate any longer. It screamed and trashed deeply within his seal, cracking and splintering apart all that held him back as corals seemed to grow out of his very own body as an answer to that.

That by itself was something unprecedented.

Isobu was never angry. He was actually always asleep or shyly muttering in a corner…but never, ever, had he been angry.

As it was, the seal wasn't strong enough to hold him back.

With a deafening sound that echoed and sounded much like a simple snapping of a twig, the seal that held the Sanbi back broke.

Yagura's Mizukage tower exploded outwardly, as the three tailed beast emerged from his host and screamed to the sky.

His wail reached beyond the clouds, propagating in the air as the tides grew and the waves crashed, before the turtle-Bijuu rolled into itself and with unparalleled speed crashed throughout the buildings that separated it from the sea.

With a sickening thud it fell in the water, generating a massive tsunami that swept through the entirety of Kirigakure.

That was how the reign of Yagura came to an end…

And in the end, it was just as planned…as Tobi watched from a nearby tower the scenes of chaos and the shinobi population trying to maintain order.

"Tobi's such a good boy, isn't he?"

"Remind me again. **Why?**" Zetsu spoke firmly with his twin voice as he slowly appeared from behind the masked man.

"Silly Zetsu," Tobi flapped his arms wide in the sky, as if encircling the moon. "Everything's more beautiful when it's broken! Broken! Snapped! Pierced! All is wonderful in blood and death! Screams are so nice to hear at night! A lullaby of perfection!" he giggled then. "But Tobi's a bad boy," he whispered seriously. "He forgot!"

Zetsu exhaled slowly, shaking his head. "What?"

"I can't remember…" Tobi huffed and pouted visibly like a child. "But when I do, I will no longer be forgetting about it!"

And to that sound piece of logic…Zetsu just disappeared back into the rooftop.

The lone sharingan eye that shined through the mask of Tobi reflected onto the village's destruction, as he memorized every single detail, every single pained face, every screaming woman or drowning child's body that he could find…

And then he laughed. He laughed as he disappeared into thin air with the power of his eye.

Perfection would be the road to take…

…because he'd burn down every other way to peace.

**Author's notes**

**I wanted to insert some fluff and leit motif, before heading forward. Yeah, the fluff is there, intertwined with desperation and words of angst…just take your cut of the pie and leave the rest to the others.**

**Someone asked Tobi. **

**Meet Tobi. Meet (briefly) Yagura.**

**Meet Orochimaru (again).**

**The Chuunin Exam final is going to be boring…right?**


	27. The Prologue to an Announced Tragedy

Introverted

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Sasuke Uchiha had a choice to make. As he walked through the half-empty corridors of secret place where he would be 'training' for more than a month without seeing the light of the day, he wondered if the choice was actually real or not. Something to make him as strong as Itachi. Something that was dangerous however. Had Itachi something similar then?

What if he had, and he defeated Sasuke so easily because he possessed that something?

He needed to have it too, if only to even the odds. But what if he died? If he died then he would leave the fate of the Uchiha clan to Itachi himself, and he would not let that happen.

He considered his options, calmly and carefully. He felt sour by just thinking at what they were. He didn't have to choose immediately though —he had far more than a month to decide if Ami was worth anything more than being a simple and convenient meat shield.

And there also was the Kusagakure team to consider: he hadn't even asked their names…or that of their kunoichi.

He didn't want to admit he was starting to _notice_ some things in females, but he did feel mildly uncomfortable whenever the kunoichi looked his way. There just was something in her eyes…those dark eyes. Or maybe it the conical straw hat and the tag with the word 'Aku' written and attached to it?

Still, she held herself up proudly and tall, not like her two teammates who seemed squabbling children like Kiba and Ami. Maybe he could ask her if she ever felt the need to just change team and go elsewhere…maybe.

Sakura Haruno was not having a good day. Sure, she had been acquitted from the hospital and had been sent home, but there things had taken a thing for the worse. She didn't know why her parents insisted that 'going to her room and staying there' was an effective punishment any longer. She was able to unlock the window with merely the use of a hairpin, and she could now jump out and climb walls.

As she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, trying to reach the training ground where her team would train in the morning from that day until the Arena Exams, she couldn't help but clench her fists tightly. She wasn't a frail Yamato Nadeshiko who would snap when hurt. She was a kunoichi. So what if her throat now sported a scar? It was thin and the stitches applied were far rougher than the wound itself!

She could just apply some make-up to make it go away. It wasn't the end of the world. She had gone through enough life-threatening situations when they weren't there to watch her, so why was it different _now_? It wasn't as if not training would change things. She'd still go and give the exam, she'd still face it and she'd probably fail it to boot.

The training ground was already occupied with both Naruto and Sai by the time she landed. She smiled to them both and waved hesitantly, as her teammates nodded back to her. Well, Sai did. Naruto's eyes were fixed on her throat. There was the hint of pain washing behind his eyes, and the guilt for being probably the cause of it. She shook her head with a bitter smile.

She had been the one distracted, not him. It wasn't his fault. Now, if only she could exert her voice and make it known.

"Do you hear it, Dickless?" Sai asked suddenly as the silence between them became suffocating.

"Huh?"

"Exactly," he remarked with a knowing look. "Silence…it's a miracle, isn't it?"

Sakura's forehead sported a nervous tick mark as she gritted her teeth and furiously clenched her right fist. She wasn't going to scream. She wasn't going to rant or yell. She was, however, going to hit the boy with all her fury.

"Come off it, Pervert," Naruto remarked. "We all know you like to be berated by Sakura. You're a masochist, aren't you?"

Sakura gawked at Naruto. Naruto smiled slightly back at Sakura with that now bitter smile of his, before turning to Sai once more. "And let's face it…you suck at reading the atmosphere."

"That does not make sense," Sai stated. "You breathe the atmosphere, you don't read it."

"Never mind," Naruto sighed. "Sakura? Are you fine?" his cerulean eyes turned to look at her with worry, and as they did she couldn't help but realize a tiny thing she had missed.

He had blond hair now. She knew that he had dyed it black, but to see it again in its natural color…

"_Naruto, why is your hair blond again?"_ she tried to say it, but what came out was merely a strangled hiss. She coughed slightly, before breathing deeply and then gesturing to her own hair, and then to his. He understood the message, because his eyes lit up.

"If I make myself visible with blond hair during the exams," he replied calmly, "then when I dye it black I will appear far more inconspicuous."

Sakura exhaled. She made an awkward smile and then nodded. It wasn't that she particularly disliked him with dark hair after all. It sort of reminded her of Sasuke's…

No.

She shook her head strongly and then calmly took a step forward towards the now blond boy. She gestured at him and then at her. She had to make it clear. The…the actions she had done in the forest had been the spur of the moment, nothing more. There was nothing else to say about it. Sure, Naruto was a good teammate, maybe the best one could hope for —since he was virtually indestructible— but romance was not on the table.

She could fantasize about it, but as it was? As it was she couldn't love him without ending up separated from him because of the rules. Maybe after Chuunin —which meant at least after another year for her— it would be a different story, but until then…she had to make it clear.

"Sakura?" he was perplexed. He probably didn't understand what she was 'saying'. She pointed at him.

"Me."

She pointed at herself. "You?"

Then she made a firm cross with both arms. "No?"

She nodded.

He frowned for a second, then he understood and his tense posture —she hadn't even realized he had been tense— relaxed slightly. He sighed in what seemed like relief, before his eyes looked at her with a sad melancholy.

"Of course," he whispered. "I'm sorry for what happened…I'll change teams after—"

She shook her head furiously.

"Uh? No? It's not that?" now there was genuine confusion on Naruto's face as the boy scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "What are we talking about?"

She brought both arms to the sky as she mocked clutching the air with her eyes turned upwards.

"Prayer?"

She crossed her arms. "No praying?"

She sighed, and then felt a blunt tip gently push against her shoulder. She turned her gaze to Sai, who was holding a paintbrush and a scrap of parchment.

"Cherry…why don't you write it down?"

That did piss Sakura off. So what if she had forgotten that Sai had ink and parchment always available!? It wasn't as if she wasn't nervous herself…she grabbed the brush and the parchment, and slowly wrote.

_What happened in the forest meant nothing._

Now…that could be open to interpretation, couldn't it? She had to make it clear.

_I didn't kiss you because I like you._

That sounded harsh, didn't it?

_It was just the spur of the moment._

There, this should do it. She passed it to Naruto who read it quickly, before looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I already knew that."

All right.

It was official.

She was going to slam Naruto's head in the ground, then Sai's, then Naruto's again, then maybe she would go and hide in a corner and wait until the end of times for someone to tell her just why her teammate didn't think anything more from a kiss from her.

"You like Sasuke, right?"

She stopped her intentions of death and destruction on the spot.

Did she like Sasuke?

Did she like him any longer?

No, Sasuke had no longer been part of the equation of her love life since…since when?

She coughed embarrassedly. What could she answer to that?

In the end, she simply turned slightly red and shook her head.

"Oh, all right," Naruto shrugged before turning to gaze at the sky. A few moments later and he felt a small slip of parchment nudge against his cheek. He frowned and looked at the paper that Sakura was holding with trembling hands and seemed conflicted about handing over to him. She held her eyes down and her face was blushing as if she had suddenly discovered the shy and bashful adjectives and wished to use them.

He grabbed the parchment and read it in one breath.

_Why did you stop asking me out for dates?_

"You said no so many times," he replied and looked with interest as the girl had flinched at the beginning of his sentence, before now standing enraptured by his words. "I…In the end I realized that no matter how many times I would ask, you'd never say yes." He shrugged. "As simple as that."

Sakura bit her lips then, crossing her arms over her chest and looking sideways.

He raised an eyebrow at such a display…

Whoever understood women was good.

It was in that type of strange silence, that their sensei found them and coughed to get their attention.

"Very well," she began. "Since there is a high chance at least one of you will fight another teammate, during the morning you will be working on simple exercises. I am not saying you cannot talk about the tactics you wish to employ against your opponents in the exam, but be forewarned you might be working against yourself if you end up fighting your teammates."

The trio looked at one another for an instant, before returning their gazes forward to their teacher. "Understood, sensei," they chorused...at least, Naruto and Sai did while Sakura merely mouthed the words.

"And please," she exhaled, "stop doing that."

"Doing what, sensei?" they chorused once more.

"Yes," Yugao sighed. "That."

Yugao watched them depart and start doing their runs around the training ground without as much as a second glance. Her ears had already caught the shuffling noise of a few leaves brushed aside, and as her gaze went to the white mane of Jiraiya of the Sannin, she could not help but instinctively tense. Was the man spying on her team? Surely, he was not going to pull them away from her teachings…after all she only had them in the morning, and with the afternoons having them busy elsewhere…

She felt strangely displeased at the thought that someone could come and steal away what time she had managed to cut out for her team. She actually felt unnerved by it. She kept giving sideways glances to where the legendary Jiraiya hid, expecting him to leap out at any moment and ask her if he could take Naruto away for some training.

She was going to put her foot down and say no.

Nobody stole her team from beneath her nose.

As expected, the shinobi leapt out just as her team had finished five laps, forcing them to stop and stare at the strange looking man who was standing atop a giant toad while holding his body in a strange posture.

"Listen here and gather around for it is I! Jiraiya the legendary Sannin has come to town! Be honored! Be wooed! Be enthralled by my masculinity and—"

"Jiraiya-sama," Yugao cut in sharply and frostily, "I am training my students."

"Aw, Uzuki-san! Do not worry, I will only need a few minutes of Naruto's time to—"

"A few minutes?" she raised her right eyebrow calmly.

"Maybe take him away for the mornings from now forth. The Hokage's orders were pretty clear on it, and considering his…" the strange white-haired shinobi looked around for a moment, "tenant, it's for the best."

She bit her lip —going against the word of Jiraiya was fine, but against that of the Hokage? That was treason. She could not do that. Yugao groaned as she forcefully nodded to the sannin, who simply smiled widely at that.

Naruto just watched the scene unfold with his mouth slightly ajar. It was not the toad per se, but the name. Jiraiya of the Sannin had taught his father, the Yondaime. He had been the teammate of Orochimaru. He was not actually angry at separating from his team also for the morning, albeit it did rather sting because it meant he would not be seeing them at all until the end of the month. He exhaled slowly as he bowed gently to his sensei first and to the legendary shinobi next.

"I'll be in your care, then, Jiraiya-sama."

Sai's face showed no signs of emotions, but Sakura's was conflicted as they watched Naruto leave with the strange shinobi. The pink-haired girl's look turned from the boy's back to her sensei's face, with a look of bitterness that just sent alarms running all over Yugao's head.

"You'll be meeting your own private teachers this afternoon. They're doing me a favor, so please try and act responsibly with them, all right?"

Sakura nodded grimly.

"I'm sure it's going to be amusing," Yugao muttered beneath her breath. The girl was practically mute…and her teacher…

Anko was going to have a field day.

No, to be more precise, she was having a field day. She was going to teach some upstart bratty kunoichi how to fight and act tough, and then maybe they would get drunk together. She knew just the place where to get something stiff and warm…in both senses of the terms.

As she jumped down with her leather jacket and all, in front of the appointed location, she grinned like a cat. There the pink-haired girl was. It was a pity she could not teach her some techniques of the Torture and Interrogation department without having to kill her, because the girl had potential to be an exciting torturer. She would have to wait at least until Chuunin. Anko had not lied when she had told the girl she was interested in getting her as an apprentice.

She rarely lied.

"Heya there, little itsy Genin!" she cheerfully smiled and waved her hand at the girl, who spun around half-scared and with her eyes wide. Anko's eyes already trailed to her scar near her throat. "Oh! You survived the Chuunin exams with a nasty scar to remember them by, huh! Well, I think we can find a way to make it look nice and intimidating to your opponent by the time we're done." She stalked closer, like a panther on the prowl.

"Well then, how about you tell me something about you?" she slowly lowered her head to the girl's ears. "Like your favorite color, your name, the type of guy you prefer…or maybe you like girls?" she jiggled her breasts to point out. "Aw, how cute," she smirked. "You're blushing!"

Sakura was actually steaming red. She consciously sent a wide-eyed look at her 'sensei' _qualities_ before looking down at hers, and that just…it enraged her. She would have wanted to say something about it, but she could not, not yet at least…and it did not make her happy in the least.

"Can't talk? Cat got your tongue?" Anko smirked as she slowly tapped the girl's forehead. "My, this is going to be so much fun! You will be, as…I do not know, my mute sidekick, or henchmen. Hench-woman should actually be more appropriate, but since you are lacking in that…Hench-kid! Or Hench-Brat!" she clapped her hands together. "That's it! From now on, you're Hench-Brat!"

Sakura growled slightly. Her throat pained her from simply doing that, forcing her to cough and shake her head.

"What? Already refusing my authority?" Anko's voice dripped with frost, the complete change of humor freezing Sakura on the spot. "That won't do. It won't do at all." She grabbed the girl by the wrist and with practiced ease threw her on the ground.

Sakura's breath departed from her as Anko's punch connected with her guts, making her open her mouth wide as all the air she had exited through her throat.

The next punch hit her squarely in the right cheek, making her snap her neck to the side as she felt blood gushing to her tongue from only Kami knew where. Anko's weight landed on her, the woman's body pinning her easily on the ground as the purple haired Tokubetsu Jounin cracked her knuckles.

"You have no idea," Anko said with a feral smirk. "Oh you have no idea how well I'm going to work on you. By the time I am done…yeah, by then you will probably be a completely different girl," the Jounin chuckled darkly. "First off, we start with pain tolerance!" and with a singing tone, the next hit slammed against Sakura left cheek.

A kunai soon found itself in Anko's hands, as the purple haired Jounin smiled.

"You know that cutting lines across the cheeks, right where they connect to the nose…it's a nice way to get to know someone?"

Sakura whimpered, trying to push the Jounin away or to scream at the very least, but nothing came out of her mouth.

"No, no," Anko shook her head. "It won't do." The Kunai point was now close to Sakura's emerald right eye, which forced the Genin to stand frozen and still in her position. "Now, let's start again. My name is Anko Mitarashi. I enjoy Dango, holding tea ceremonies and wearing pretty Yukata when I go out during festivals. I disliked whimsy and wimpy girls who believe this level of pain is enough to whimper, and traitor of the leaf…" Anko's breathe tickled Sakura's throat as the Jounin added. "And my dream…" her voice sounded ecstatic as she spoke, "my dream is to drive a thick and pointy sword straight through my sensei's guts and hear him scream as he dies between throbs of pain…" was the woman actually moaning at that? Just who had her sensei handed her off to!?

"And you are Sakura Haruno, yes? Genin, you like some boy I'm sure, maybe the Uchiha…wealthy, broody, scion of an important clan…who wouldn't at your stupid age? I liked a broody person too at your age. He then proceeded to abandon me after I gave him my everything, but does it matter? No, it doesn't. We're talking about you, right? Well…let's see…you started training in the last months, your body is underdeveloped because of hunger and since you aren't an orphan and aren't poor you're a flimsy little bitch who thought that food could be wasted down the drain, right?" the Jounin hissed. "I hate bitches unless they're _my bitches_, and you are not mine. So I'm hoping you passed that phase, did you?"

The kunai tip was now slowly making its way down her neck, as if it was a soft caress…if only it were not cold steel with the potential to pierce through her jaw with ease.

"You know, Kunai were gardening tools at first," Anko spoke off-handedly. "If you still want to lose weight, we can trim you a bit —maybe a limb, an ear, some hair…an eye also? Yeah, we could take out one of your eyes. You enjoy taking out eyes don't you? Your teammate lost his…cruel, cruel way to go, and he still forgave you?" the Jounin made a 'tsk' sound. "Some people never learn."

There was silence for a moment. "You know, when you're fighting a female opponent, to humiliate them generally means to win? It hurts more to cut away bits and pieces of their clothes than actually hurting them…strange isn't it? I'd think some Kunoichi are in the profession just for the kicks of adrenaline or because they fantasize about being raped by enemy shinobi, but then again what do I know?" there was a light sound of fabric ripped as Sakura's strength to escape increased with the desperation.

"See what I mean? I barely scratched your pants and here you are, already thinking 'gah! What is this mad-woman going to do!' And you know what? I'm conflicted. I mean, I should be teaching you and I think I'm doing a really good job but…we're missing something," Anko sighed. "Maybe we don't have chemistry? No, can't be that," there was a moment of silence as Anko's eyes lit up. "Right! We're missing your side!" she jumped back a moment later.

Sakura stumbled on her feet in a hurry, panting and breathing raggedly as she looked at her shorts. The right leg's side had a small cut, just barely, but it was still there. Her hand shot to her kunai pouch, only to find it gone.

Her hands had clasped over nothing.

She looked through her secret pockets, her second and third pouches. She began to sweat as she narrowed her eyes on the purple haired woman who just seemed to be enjoying the moment.

"Oh? Lost something?" Anko's smile grew deeper and deeper as she twirled a kunai in her hand. "You know what?" she launched the kunai in the air, in Sakura's direction. "Come at me with the intent to kill," Sakura charged ahead to grab the kunai's handle, "and maybe you will _survive_ this training." Just as her hand reached for the weapon, a gut-wrenching punch hit her squarely in the stomach, sending her to sprawl on the ground with the kunai in hand.

"Well?" Anko chuckled as she simply stood in her attacking posture. "All done?"

"Argh…" Sakura coughed, blood splattering out from her mouth as she grasped at the ground.

"Come on! I'll fight you until blood is all you can taste and feel!" Anko's right leg hit squarely against Sakura's stomach once more in a devastating uppercut, before the Jounin's left hand punched straight in the face the girl. "Healing chakra can even mend broken teeth, you know? You'll probably need it by the end of the day," Anko giggled to herself. "If you have any teeth left that is."

Sakura watched with disbelief through the hazy red fog that seemed to be clouding her vision the woman move closer once more. She could still feel the kunai in her hand however…

She could stay down though.

She could stop fighting. It would be easy…she just had to lose consciousness and it would be over. There would be no more pain. It would be…the end. She felt woozy.

Just a quick nap wouldn't hurt anyone, right?

No. It would.

Her teammates…they trusted her, didn't they? And she was weak. She had been weak for too long. She wasn't going to stand down or stop fighting _just because_. She ground her teeth, she spat out one that had come loose, and then with murder flaming behind her eyes she snarled at the Jounin and charged ahead.

The last thing she remembered through the hazy fog of pain and anger was the sadistic smile on the Jounin's face.

Sai 'Satou' was having tea. The drink was warm, the brew finely scented, and the room they were in was calm and comforting. He wondered what type of training they could have inside a house that didn't finish with the destruction of said room.

The woman in front of him had red eyes and dark raven hair that descended in curls. She dressed in a sort of white bandaged outfit, and he recognized her as the teacher of team Eight. Kurenai Yuhi was the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha —that much he had gleamed from the files Danzo-sama held of the Jounin.

"So, Sai," Kurenai made a warm and comforting smile. "Do you know why I accepted to teach you Genjutsu?"

"Rock Lee suffers from a chakra deficiency problem," he replied monotonously. "He does not possess the necessary chakra to quickly dispel multiple Genjutsu techniques or multi-layered Genjutsu."

"Indeed," Kurenai nodded. "And do you know why we are training in this room?"

"We shouldn't be," Sai answered. "One mean to remove a Genjutsu is through pain. Another is through disbelieving the illusion with something the brain can catch with its subconscious."

"My, you did your research," Kurenai smiled warmly. "Indeed. So the question is…are we really training in my house? And if so…how did you get here?"

Just as the question reached the boy's ears, Sai's surroundings changed to those of a grassy hill overlooking Konoha. He wasn't having tea, but drinking water. He wasn't sitting on a comfortable looking sofa but on a blanket. He recalled having actually _accepted_ the invitation to sit down.

"Genjutsu is the difficult art of using Yin chakra manipulation directly into someone's brain and to make them 'dream', shall we say, of things that can be used for misdirection, for interrogation purposes, or generally just about anything you can think of that might serve your purpose." Kurenai chuckled lightly. "You see, it is a far subtle art which, when mastered, can grant the shinobi or the kunoichi an unparalleled ace in their sleeves."

Sai nodded firmly.

"Very well then, we will begin with a simple imagination exercise. You draw, is that correct?"

He nodded again. "Then I wish for you to _imagine_ drawing something. Do not actually draw it. Simply imagine what you would like to draw and then firmly push the chakra into the parchment. You shouldn't be able to see anything the first times you try, but eventually you should start to feel the strain from chakra exhaustion. In that moment, Yin and Yang chakra will actually be unbalanced. When that happens try to get a feel of the Yin chakra, and try to use it to form the illusion. You should successfully self-hypnotize yourself into seeing the drawing on the picture."

Sai raised an eyebrow. How did that help against Rock Lee?

"Yang chakra is used afterwards, to 'propel' the illusion from your brain to the one of your enemy. The faster it is done, sometimes even with the usage of hand-signs, the better the Genjutsu sticks. To do so seamlessly and repeatedly is the mark of a Genjutsu expert. To do so flawlessly even under duress…that's what earned me my Jounin rank," she smiled one last time. "I expect extreme seriousness from you. The method of training is dangerous. If by mistake you end up draining all of your Yang chakra…you could pretty much die."

He stiffened slightly…

…and then his eyes widened briefly.

He had never been afraid of death before. He had grown up in Root. Emotions weren't meant to be. Being afraid of death wasn't something they taught. Yet now…now he was afraid of dying, but not for himself, no.

He was afraid because his teammates might feel sad about it. They called him 'pervert', but they cared for him, just as he…did he care for them? He couldn't go against Danzo-sama's orders but…but if he had to say it…

Then yes, he cared for his teammates.

And as he nodded and began the training exercise, he was sure to be extra careful about it.

Dickless and Kinky Cherry would simply be lost without Pervert to keep them in line.

Naruto watched as the white haired Sannin took him over to a water stream, before dropping on the ground a large scroll and settling it against a tree.

"Well then brat!" Jiraiya visibly smiled as he widened his arms. "I am the Gallant Jiraiya! You have to know about me, don't you?"

"Yes, Jiraiya-sama," he stiffly nodded. Naruto's cerulean eyes carved deeply into the man's own, as he appeared to be waiting for something more. The fact the old shinobi hadn't even moved from his strange position with his 'arms' wide made him perplexed. What was he expecting?

"Ah…ehm," Jiraiya coughed. "You can start praising my masculinity when you wish," he added. "I'm the author of the Icha-Icha series after all! The top hit of porn everywhere across the elemental countries!" he smiled and brought his thumb up. "It is I! Jiraiya!" he widened his arms once more tapping his feet to rhythm as if to point out each of his words.

"I…know?" Naruto tried once more hesitantly. Did the old shinobi lose his marbles somewhere across the battlefield? Maybe he had just grown senile with time…

"Good!" Jiraiya sighed and brought his shoulders down before muttering. "Just my luck…he took after _him_ after all."

"Jiraiya-sama?" Naruto hesitated, but finally asked, "Why am I here?"

"Oh, right!" the toad sage clapped his hands together. "I want to officially take you on as my apprentice! What do you think about it? I'd vouch for you and all! You could learn quite a load of secret techniques and jutsu in a short amount of time under my tutelage, and you'd also have access to the Toad Summoning scroll! Toads are the best summon ever to boot!" as the man cheerfully smiled and made another thumb-up gesture, Naruto took a step backwards.

"And that is…why?"

"Because the Hokage asked, of course!" another thumb-up.

"Can you please stop it with the pose?" Naruto whispered. "It's annoying."

Jiraiya's shoulders drooped down. "No respect for the elders," the shinobi shook his head. "No respect at all."

"The Sandaime wanted you to teach me?" Naruto pried once more. "Why?"

"Hell if I know," Jiraiya shrugged, holding on to his smile.

"Liar," Naruto deadpanned calmly, his eyes narrowing. Silence fell in their surroundings, interrupted only by the rustling of the water along the stream that crossed the small area Jiraiya had chosen as a training ground. "You know, don't you? There is a reason. It either has to do with the Kyuubi in my guts, or with something else…Jinchuuriki are prized possessions of the village, have you come to make sure I'm one-hundred percent loyal to the Sandaime and the village?"

"Sharp brat," Jiraiya sighed as his face slowly turned serious. "Well, yeah, you got me. I'm the seal expert of Konoha after all…something's wrong with the seal, I should check it. The little spectacle you did in the forest, the disappearance of the Ichibi…Sarutobi-sensei wanted me to check it out."

"And why didn't you ask straightforwardly?"

"Well, that's just the icing on the cake, really. I've been hearing a lot of things about a prodigy trained by the Yami of shinobi that—"

"Aoba-sensei wasn't called that," Naruto deadpanned.

Jiraiya blinked. "You don't know?"

"I don't know what?" Naruto asked blinking back.

"Danzo."

"Danzo-sensei?"

"Shimura Danzo," Jiraiya began calmly. "Is known as the Yami of shinobi in the rest of the world…he was the leader of Anbu for years, before moving on to lead a secret shinobi unit known as Root which takes care of counter-intelligence and spy-capturing within the village…as well as Black Ops operation outside."

"He's retired," Naruto weakly, for he actually did not believe his own words, replied. "I never asked him what he did before…so what?"

"If he's retired then I'm Tsunade," Jiraiya exhaled. "Listen kid, why don't you ask him later tonight? That way you'll know if I'm lying or not," Naruto meekly nodded to those words, which made Jiraiya smile tentatively. "Very well, now that this is over, let's get back to the apprenticeship…"

"Will I have to leave my team behind?"

"Ah…that is…yeah," Jiraiya sighed. "Apprenticeships…they're for life, you know. Technically, they do it so that when the shinobi 'master' dies the apprentice can take over flawlessly. This doesn't mean you won't take missions with your team though!" he hastily added, "Only, you'll have to follow me around the elemental countries when I go out to learn my 'job' and when it will be over you'll be tested directly for Jounin rank, so…"

"So I'd leave my team behind," Naruto whispered.

"Well…but you'd become stronger, far, far stronger than before!"

"No," Naruto shook his head. "I go with my team or I don't go at all," he finished calmly.

Jiraiya exhaled slowly. "You sure? I mean…there are a lot of techniques I could teach you, like the Rasengan or the summoning techniques…"

"I'm sure," he replied.

"If you're so sure…" Jiraiya scratched the back of his head. "Well, can't do much more than this then. I'll just check your seal and then we can…you know…peek on girls?"

His thumb pointed behind him, to where the thick canopy of undergrowth seemed to partway to reveal a small hole that gleamed into a natural pool of water. Said natural pool of water held within kunoichi and civilian girls bathing…_skimpily clad_, if he could add that.

A slight dribble of blood came down from Naruto's nose, before he slowly shook his head and began to walk back out of the hole he had subconsciously occupied. He silently slapped both of his cheeks before narrowing his gaze on Jiraiya who was holding the same grin the Cheshire cat held. "So? Enjoyed the view?"

"You could try apprenticing Sai," Naruto remarked smoothly. "He's a pervert just like you."

"Uh, really?" Jiraiya's face turned thoughtful. "Because I'm not just any pervert…I'm a super pervert!"

"Yes, definitively," Naruto nodded firmly. "You seem made for one another."

"Ehi!" the Sannin sighed, "Still, I'm glad the rumors were just that…rumors."

"Uh?"

"You know, the Sandaime told me you were some sort of introverted brat who spoke little and stuck to the shadows…I even understood why Danzo might have caught an interest in you with that but…you're pretty easy to talk to."

"Ah," Naruto's eyes widened as he slowly came to the realization…that the man was right. When had he started talking, rather than just _being_ _there_?

A small smile spread across his face.

"You're right," he answered. "I think…all I needed was simply…you know, someone who cared."

He closed his eyes for a moment. "You know, Jiraiya-sama?" he crossed his arms over his chest. "Let's say, hypothetically, I was to accept…what would happen to my teammates?"

"That would depend," Jiraiya remarked. "Usually they are placed together with another shinobi and sent on missions, but if they both do pass and reach Chuunin-rank…they might as well be directly introduced into a four man Chuunin team and sent on routine patrols across Konoha's borders."

"I shouldn't be thinking of this concerning me," Naruto muttered. "But what would be best for my teammates?"

"Naruto," Jiraiya spoke seriously. "Nothing prohibits you from taking the Jounin exam together with them if you so wish. And consider that if you really do not want to travel with me…I can just sign off a waiver saying you have an extremely important secret rank mission to do while going undercover as a Chuunin."

"You'd go that far?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"You know," Jiraiya remarked. "I'm old and cranky, and my student decided to die acting like the hero he was…so I've got no-one else to inherit my techniques. If I have to choose, before the Konoha library decides for me and gives them off to some no-name guy? Then yeah, I'd rather you have them."

Naruto chuckled mirthlessly. "That's nice…but why me?"

"Ahem," Jiraiya coughed. "That is—"

"Your student was the fourth Hokage, wasn't he?"

A slow chill crept down Jiraiya's spine.

"And I know my mother is Kushina Uzumaki."

The chill became frosty the next instant.

"And she was under Orochimaru's team."

The chill began to howl as the frozen winds of the tundra.

"So you both met a lot, didn't you?"

"Where are you…"

"So…Jiraiya-sama…I have to ask," Naruto's voice was slow. "The fact that 'Hakashi Katake' is in truth Kakashi Hatake, and he is the Yondaime's student, and you are the Yondaime's sensei…"

The chill slammed into Jiraiya's heart.

"That makes me the Yondaime's son, doesn't it?"

And he saw it there. He saw the cold and icy chill of a child discovering just what his father had done to them, and just as he looked for the signs of blistering anger or some sort of petty sadness…he found nothing.

He blinked twice. Either the boy was apt at hiding his emotions…or he wasn't actually angered by the revelation.

"Drat," Jiraiya whispered. "Sensei is going to kill me."

Then he brought his right hand to his chin. "Just to ask…how do you know of 'Hakashi' real identity?"

"He can't hide his smell," Naruto tapped to his nose. "I met him before, and his posture…it just reminded me of him. The reason he disguised himself was probably because he's the proctor for the third part of the exam…but then why go to great lengths like those to train me? Unless he has something to prove…like to my father?"

"I…I admit it's true," Jiraiya murmured. "You're smarter than other boys your age."

"I'll take it as a compliment."

Embarrassing silence settled between the two for a moment more, before Jiraiya finally sighed out loudly and muttered. "Fine! I've got an idea."

"Uh?"

"Let's do this. You know, the Yondaime had a technique called 'Rasengan'."

"And?"

"Well…I can't teach you the…Rasengan, because it's a technique. You know…a really dangerous and life threatening technique that can easily kill another shinobi," Jiraiya's eyes gleamed slightly. "But it's also really simple to execute it! And someone could stumble upon it by chance…it's nothing difficult if you have the chakra for it, after all."

Naruto's eyebrows rose. "Jiraiya-sama, you aren't suggesting…"

"Call me sensei, brat," Jiraiya sighed. "If I'm going to get flak from the old geezer…well, better to get a good load of it for something big rather than something trivial."

"T-Thank you, sensei," Naruto stammered out as he stood ramrod straight.

"We'll check your seal later," the Toad Sage said. "For the moment…try and bring forth chakra to your right hand…"

So it was that Naruto and Jiraiya began to train…just as elsewhere Sakura Haruno and Anko Mitarashi did, or like Sai Satou and Kurenai Yuhi…

And as the three Genin trained, preparing for their Chuunin exams…

Orochimaru snarled slightly and backhanded the orphan girl straight on the cheek, sending her to tumble on the ground with a small cry.

"Hebi! I told you five-hundred! Not five-hundred and five or four-hundred and ninety-five! Five-hundred! Was it that difficult?"

"O-Orochimaru-sama I…"

"No," he shook his head. "When I ask for five-hundred paper cranes," he remarked calmly, "I expect five-hundred paper cranes." With a single hand gesture, he burned the pile of paper.

"You have until tomorrow to bring me _five-hundred _paper cranes," the Snake Sannin softly said then, grabbing Hebi by the throat. "If you fail," his golden eyes settled on her scared amber ones. "I will have your limbs and use you as a _ball_."

Then he dropped the dark haired girl back on the ground, where she scampered to leave his tent. "Really," he snorted, "Good aid is so difficult to find."

He bit his thumb and drew the blood, enough to summon a small snake. "Tell Manda to get ready," he hissed. "We're attacking in three weeks."

The snake bowed before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Orochimaru just smiled. Everything was going according to plan…or plans, depending on which one of the many he was thinking of. It was difficult to think about all of them to be sure…but they were all interesting, and he…

He liked interesting things foremost.

**Author's notes**

**Next chapter should have the start of the Chuunin exams. This can be considered the last 'fluffy and happy' chapter. Ah…and if you expect a canon-like invasion…**_**please**_**, that's so **_**cliché**_** it hurts.**

**Anko is scary. Did I portray her right? (Psychopathically right, that is)**

**I should write a 'Yandere'-only story. I think my hand is pretty much trained on writing psychopathically minded females…isn't it?**

**Hinata's fate still hangs on a thread. **

**Now that I have a page on Tvtropes…the next step is, of course, fanart. Onwards, to glory! (And world domination, a fanfic at the time)**


	28. The First Chapter in a Tale of Woe

Introverted

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Kizashi Haruno had been a baker all his life. His wife had been a baker all her life and she, differently from him, came from a long and upstanding line of bakers who served bread since the times the first Hokage founded the village. Therefore, when their daughter had decided to become a shinobi, they had not put their foot down. In no way could she have the ability to mold chakra, since not one person in the family ever possessed it.

Of course, fate decided differently, and since molding chakra automatically enrolled you in the academy, there simply was not a choice.

Kizashi had thus watched his little girl grow up speaking about the Uchiha heir, about throwing kunai and tactics. He had watched her eyes lit up countless times whenever she mentioned Taijutsu, Genjutsu or Ninjutsu. He had heard her rant about her team not having Sasuke-kun and then heard her plead to them not to treat Naruto as if he were a monster or some sort of beast, because he wasn't.

He had watched Sakura grow from a young girl into a budding woman, and he truly held a large amount of pride in the fact that his daughter was indeed becoming a fine kunoichi.

He knew it was useless to just lock her up in her room —he hadn't even tried to, but his wife was simply scared. Sakura was their only child after all, and Mebuki had always been the worrywart.

"Ehi, Kizashi," one of his shinobi customers grimaced as he called for him. "Listen," he added. "I think you should have a talk with your daughter soon, before she ends up bad."

The Jounin who talked had spiky light blue hair and blue eyes. He wore the standard outfit of the Konohagakure shinobi complete with a flak jacket and a forehead protector on a long band that tapered off. He also wore his sleeves rolled up, and was holding onto a bag of bread he had recently bought.

"Sabiru-san?"

Sabiru just grimaced again, before shaking his head. "Don't tell anyone I told you, but I saw your daughter training with Anko, of all people…Mitarashi isn't supposed to be teaching _anyone_, much less a Genin. You'd be better off killing the girl yourself rather than let her suffer through that woman's training…"

Kizashi frowned. "I don't think I know of this…Mitarashi?"

"She was Orochimaru's apprentice," Sabiru shook his head with a heavy sigh. "I think the traitor turned some screws loose with her head. She was never the same when she came back…"

"I'll talk with my daughter tonight," Kizashi acquiesced.

"It might be too late by then," Sabiru murmured to himself as he left, leaving behind a puzzled Kizashi.

Sakura Haruno opened her eyes to the ceiling of the hospital, and more precisely to the stern gaze of a nurse who was treating her wounds with the utmost care. "She got you too, huh?" the nurse muttered. "Listen, if you're quick and smart enough you'll manage to hide for a week or two…generally that's all it takes for her to lose interest in you."

"Eh?" Sakura groaned as she felt her throat literally on fire. Did her tongue taste like alcohol? Had she drunk? How had she drunk? She remembered passing out…didn't she pass out?

"Don't try and talk. She probably got drunk and then force-fed you something too," the nurse snorted. "Probably sakè…poor child, what was your sensei thinking?"

"Ah…" she moaned as she felt a bone snap back into place. She was actually glad she felt light-headed —it eased the pain she was feeling. "Really, what does she think human bodies are made of? This will take at least three days to heal."

She nudged her left arm, apparently broken and in a cast before she had even realized it. "Yes dearie, your left arm is a no-no," the nurse was old and wrinkled.

"an…anma?" Sakura murmured weakly. She had wanted to say 'grandma', because she was seeing her grandmother floating behind the nurse, saying something like 'don't come over here, Sakura!' but really, that was impossible because ghosts didn't exist…

This had to be a hallucination due to alcohol. Everything was going to be fine when she woke up again…yeah…she felt so sleepy.

Sakura's eyes fluttered open to the night sky…that and the noise of a feral beast. This had to be a dream. She was wearing her hospital gown and her left arm was still in a cast. There was no way she had been moved to the depths of a forest…the training ground Forty-Four. There was no way they would…

There was a kunai on the ground, with a note pierced straight by its tip.

She hesitated for a moment, before using her right hand to grab it and read the note beneath the moonlight.

_My sensei used this same training with me! Survive until you reach the exit! Oh, of course I asked a friend of mine to take away most of your chakra. So no running above the trees and escaping the feral and highly dangerous beasts that lurk around!_

_See ya soon,_

_From the Adorably Sexy Anko-sensei!_

Sakura blanched. The silent steps of one of the training ground's tigers moved closer to its prey, as the pink-haired kunoichi just swallowed nervously. She held tightly onto the kunai with her right hand. It was her only weapon. She had nothing else. The nights were getting colder now, September was moving towards October and…and she was in the middle of the Forest of Death.

Moreover, this time around, her teammates were not there.

Naruto's eyes shone with determination as his right hand brought out a torrential amount of chakra, forming some sort of micro cyclone that revolved around his palm.

"It should be a sphere," Jiraiya remarked. "Can't you bring it down? Revolving movements, Naruto, revolving movements…"

"Working on it," Naruto hissed out. As it was, he had a tornado in his palm that always ended up exploding before he could compress it. Jiraiya-sensei helped him a lot, giving him pointers and showing him the technique again and again but really…he couldn't actually feel what someone else was doing, and as such there was no way to actually manage a 'clock-wise and counter-clockwise movement of chakra' without practicing.

"Why are you trying to create a _Bijuudama_ from your hands?" the Kyuubi snorted through his ear. "You can create chakra _rays_ from the tip of your fingers, if you really wish for it…but the Bijuudama is generated from your mouth."

He had no idea what the fox was talking about, until he found himself watching as tiny streaks of red chakra flowed through his body towards his throat. "Just follow the instructions," the Kyuubi murmured. "Relax, let it flow."

Suddenly, Naruto's throat seemed to bulge slightly as the teen opened his mouth wide. A loud groan echoed before the boy's body convulsed abruptly forward, spitting out an orb of blue chakra that flew in the air before crashing up against a tree bark, detonating it to smithereens.

"That's the most worthless Bijuudama I have ever seen," the Kyuubi deadpanned. "I would feel ashamed if I were you."

"Naruto?" Jiraiya asked with half-narrowed eyes. "What was that?"

"I…ehm…" he shook his head and scratched the back of his neck, "I improvised?"

"Well," Jiraiya blinked. "I suppose that _could_ work." The white haired man shook his head. "I doubt anyone else could compare that to a rasengan…whatever the hell it was."

"Bijuudama," Naruto said, closing his eyes. "Tailed Beast Bomb."

"You know," the old Toad Sage's eyes lit with something Naruto couldn't comprehend. "Now that you say that…your father came up with his rasengan by copying the Bijuudama of the Jinchuuriki of Kumogakure during the war."

"Really?" it was just a simple word worded as a question, but the underlying tone of _need_ was something Jiraiya was extremely familiar with: the desire to know more.

"I know this story," he smirked. "I'll tell you while we go find a place to eat for the day," he chuckled. "Let them see you with me —that should put up quite a storm of rumors."

"Thank you, Jiraiya-sensei."

Now, if only he could manage to tell the boy he was his godfather…without eliciting some sort of internal feud between them…next time, he'd let Sarutobi-sensei handle it.

Yugito Nii was sternly grumbling to herself as she jumped from tree to tree. Her eyes narrowed as she flung one kunai against a snake whose only fault was to be taking the sun on a nearby branch, before taking another jump forward.

"Horrid creatures," she murmured. "What's taking you so long, Mabui!?" she snarled back behind her, where the Raikage's secretary was sweating profusely.

"Nii-sama," the woman answered. "We've been running for…three days."

"So?"

"I am not used to it."

"You're a Jounin of Kumogakure: act like one!" with another powerful jump, Yugito moved forward. It was nothing, three days of running. She had done much worse and much longer when she had been five, training to control the Nibi.

"The technique to send reports to the Raikage consumes a lot of chakra," Mabui tried to exclaim at Yugito's back as the Jinchuuriki just kept on running ahead.

Yugito did not answer the woman —those were all excuses. You could do something or you could not, and if you could not, then you had better be able to do it the next day or there would be consequences. She shuddered at the thought of the consequences for her failures. She wasn't going to fail.

The Raikage had given her a mission, and she was going to follow it through.

"Another snake, to the left, beneath a bush," the Nibi's voice was met with the swift and brutal execution of the pointed snake, as on more kunai flew from her hand to kill the beast. "Well done."

She didn't know why the Nibi hated snakes. She knew it had something to do with a 'great white snake' but anything more left the beast tight-lipped. Not that they spoke much, since on one side her instructors had been pretty clear that any words exchanged between them were usually poisoned with lies, and on the other the two-tailed beast was quiet and silent most of the time.

Still, if by killing snakes the Nibi cooperated smoothly, then who was she to say no to it? She didn't like snakes to begin with. There was also another thing she actually had to do to make the Nibi cooperate with her fully…but that one was something she felt too disgusted to think about trying it.

Her blond hair whipped behind her in the wind as she jumped a bit higher than normal to see beyond the treetops. The land of Hot-Springs was demilitarized, and the Samurai checkpoints —few and sparse— were usually ignored by the ninja rather than actually taken seriously…the Samurai knew that too, but that didn't stop them from insisting.

Maybe they could stop at a hot spring for a quick bath. The Raikage would probably be displeased if she left his secretary behind in the dirt.

There were rumors of course of what he and she did…but she just quashed them down. The Raikage was pretty much set in his celibate ways and his secretary…well, there were far prettier woman around. She wondered where she had been when they had assigned beauty. She had narrow cheekbones and a stern gaze, and frankly what little curves she had meant nothing when the other side learned of the fact that yes, she had a snake-killing and human-flesh eating monster in her stomach.

She only drunk-dated and nobody stayed around once they were sober enough to realize what they had done…it avoided the awkward mornings at least.

"Can you smell it?" the Nibi suddenly shifted. "It's near the coast, twenty miles from here."

She instantaneously tensed. "What is it?"

"It smells of turtle," the Two-Tailed demon murmured. "Such long time…it must be the Sanbi."

"Is it moving upwards to Kumo?"

"It appears so," the Nibi whispered. "I wonder why," she added with a frown. "He's not usually that reactive."

"Are you lying to me?" Yugito asked then, only to receive the mental image of the demon cat snorting and _shrugging_.

"Do I look like I care? I wonder what freed him. Doesn't matter. He's gone from my senses. He must have plunged deep in the ocean."

Yugito's eyes remained narrow for a moment more as she gazed at the horizon, before she finally stopped against the smooth surface of a tree. Mabui soon closed the distance between them, reaching her as fast as she could.

"We'll be taking a break here," Yugito said. "Five minutes, then we depart once more." She looked to the side. "We'll find a Hot-spring to rest fully for one day, and then we'll make haste for Konoha. We're already behind schedule."

"Yes, Yugito-sama."

Mabui exhaled slowly. She knew nobody enjoyed working with the Nibi Jinchuuriki —which was one of the reasons Yugito Nii worked alone in the special Kumogakure Corps— but she hadn't thought it was because she was a slave-driver. She was probably going to melt by the time they reached a Hot-Spring…if her muscles didn't give away the next morning, that was.

Sasuke Uchiha held contempt for little things. Disorder, chaos, general noise and bantering were on the list of things he didn't like. The fact he found himself sitting next to the Kusagakure Kunoichi, one day in the mess hall, meant nothing. It was just…a circumstance.

"Hn."

"Is that all you say?" the kunoichi asked him with a half-amused smirk. "I thought this…training regime, would be something to be excited about."

"They don't want me to stress my broken arm," he grumbled out. "As if it could snap again."

"Multiple fractures of the same limb aren't something trivial, boy," the kunoichi smirked. "But you're too young to know that."

He narrowed his eyes. He'd have to settle for Ami then, if this was the level of respect he'd get from the Kusa kunoichi.

"What would that mean?" he asked briskly.

"That you lack experience," she replied. "It's not something you can acquire like snapping two fingers together, and it makes the difference between life and death. Why else do you think Genin learn beneath Jounin-sensei? To make sure they learn from more experienced shinobi. A lot of Genin remain such for years, and that is why the three Sannin of Konoha are special: they passed together the Chuunin exams; all three of them at the same time and on their first try managed what many others could not."

"How can I get experience when I'm not training?" Sasuke bristled slightly as he asked that. "Our sensei won't even take us on missions any longer, since he's busy with the third exam coming around."

"You could spar with your teammates," she remarked. "But it seems to me you don't really like them at all, do you?"

"No," Sasuke shook his head. "One rants about defeating me, the other rants about marrying her…" he shuddered. "I don't like either of them."

"Well," the kunoichi raised her gaze up to the ceiling. "How about sparring against me, boy? Think you can take it?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You? Are you sure you will not go crying back to your sensei afterwards?"

"Hn," the kunoichi grumbled mock imitating his own verse. "Kunoichi don't cry…they have crocodile tears."

The girl then stood up from her seat. "The name is Shiore by the way," she said with a wink.

"Sasuke."

"Yeah…let's see how much your 'last Uchiha' bull is worth on the sparring ring."

He stood up quickly, following the girl out and towards the training area.

Maybe…maybe he could live with disrespect after all.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru looked pleased. The little orphan had done five-hundred paper cranes as instructed. "What have we learned today then, my apprentice?"

The girl looked at him with wide eyes filled with fear. "To do paper cranes, Orochimaru-sama?"

The slap made the orphan's body twist in mid-air before landing on the ground —so strong was the blow. "No! Who cares about the paper cranes!?" Orochimaru snarled. "What was the true purpose of doing paper cranes? You don't really think I have a need for paper cranes, right?"

"Ah…I…to _test_…me?"

"Correct," Orochimaru smirked. "Now why would I test you?"

"B-Because I…" she gasped for air as the thought of answering wrong actually paralyzed her in fear. "I don't know."

The snake sannin's eyes narrowed to thin fissures. "You don't know?"

"Ah, please don't kill me, Orochimaru-sama!" Hebi was on the ground pleading for her life the next instant, as the snake Sannin just chuckled.

"Hush, child…it's normal…" he smirked. "Everything is fine if you don't know," he giggled. "You'll find out soon enough. We're moving out soon…and you'll understand."

Somehow, those words did not calm Hebi down at all.

The Hokage was calmly taking long breaths from his pipe's tobacco, when the door of his office swung open with fury. Yugao Uzuki walked in, followed by a sheepish Anko who seemed to be holding her head slightly low.

"What happened?" Hiruzen's tone was calm and collected, but he had half an idea what the problem was.

"She _lost_ my student!" Yugao actually snarled that out with venom, which was far more than what he had ever seen the Anbu kunoichi do before.

"Not actually lost," Anko piped in. "Just…misplaced?"

"In the forest of death! She just had her left arm placed in a cast, her chakra sealed and you sent her in the _forest of death_!?"

"Well," the purple haired kunoichi winced. "She's going up against the Hyuga, no?"

"_You sent her in the forest of Death!_"

"Geez, calm down Yugao-chan!" the Tokubetsu Jounin rolled her eyes. "She'll be fine. I left her there at night: beasts don't usually prowl at that hour."

"It's the principle that counts!" Yugao yelled back. "You don't kidnap my students! Nobody kidnaps my students! They're my team, my soldiers, not yours! If I have to comply with the Hokage then it's fine, but _they're mine_! And you sent a civilian girl with no extra techniques or chakra _in the Forest of Death_!" the Anbu took a deep breath. "What the hell were you thinking, Anko!? What the hell!?"

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. The Anbu guards hidden in the corners of his room actually watched the catfight with interest, grateful their masks could hide their expressions.

"Hey! It worked with me!"

"Orochimaru sent his potential Genin team in there, and only _YOU_ came out unscathed because you were lucky!" Yugao screamed back at the woman, grabbing her jacket with both of her hands. "It was the bloodiest thing Konoha ever saw! The other two shinobi? They were traumatized for months!" coldly, Yugao dropped the hem of Anko's jacket. "If something happens to my Genin, Anko," here she narrowed her eyes. "I will find you, no matter where you hide. I will come to you in the night and I will slice your throat after torturing you until you beg me to kill you! Have I made myself clear!?"

"Ohh…kinky," Anko licked her lips.

"Ahem," Hiruzen coughed slightly. Suddenly, Yugao stood ramrod straight and with a slight blush on her face.

"H-Hokage-sama!" she squeaked. "I apologize!"

"Heya gramps!" Anko smiled as she waved at the Hokage. "Yugao brought me here! You've got any mission I can do to pass time?"

The Sandaime coughed once more. "So…I have a Genin lost in the forest of Death?"

"Not lost! Just misplaced!" Anko exclaimed happily. "Yugao-chan said I could train her to fight the Hyuga brat in the finals! I had no choice but to accept, really! Then when I went and saw that scrawny ass of a child, I thought 'sheesh! She has no muscles or pain tolerance! She's going to bawl over when the gentle fist starts hammering down on her!' and so I thought 'let's give her a pain tolerance crash-test! Just like what happened with the Uzumaki teammate of hers!'. And that's pretty much it old man!"

Hiruzen exhaled slowly. He could feel a headache incoming.

"Uzuki-san," the Sandaime locked eyes with the ex-Anbu. "Keep on training the remaining Genin. Sakura Haruno will pass off as a fully-fledged Mitarashi Anko apprentice for the moment, which will avoid forcing me to execute her for having stolen a Genin from another commanding officer," he raised his right hand to stop the barrage of protests the Anbu was about to give.

"Silence!" he snapped. "And Mitarashi Anko? You will be bringing your apprentice alongside you on every single mission you do, and will be directly responsible for her health…" he narrowed his eyes, "Yuzuki, Anbu guards? Leave us."

Stiffly, Yugao nodded firmly before giving one last heated glare to Anko who just smiled back and waved 'goodbye' to the Team Thirteen sensei.

The moment they were alone, the Sandaime stood up.

"You're walking a thin line, Anko."

Anko shrugged. "You asked for results," she pointed out. "I'm giving them out."

"If a civilian kunoichi can manage to defeat an upstanding member of a clan," Hiruzen mused out. "Then the clan's inherently prejudiced system will _have_ to fall apart," the Sandaime chuckled. "I would have preferred you to act more subtly, but as long as there are results…"

"Well, I've got to go now…my summons might just decide to eat the girl, rather than just keep an eye out on her." Anko winked at the old man before turning to leave, only for the Sandaime to exhale one last time.

"Anko, you know that…should the girl fail…"

"Yeah," she grimaced. "You'll have to get me demoted and placed somewhere in a faraway outpost because I went against the chain of command."

"Exactly," Hiruzen nodded. "On the other hand…succeed in this, in countering the Gentle Fist style…" his eyes glazed over, "And I might just strike out the Tokubetsu out of your title."

Anko chuckled. "All right, old man…you're on!"

With a flicker, the Tokubetsu Jounin was gone.

Hiruzen shook his head slowly, before turning to look at the village of Konoha in its splendor. "Care for them and protect them…for it is among them that one will rise to take your place," he brought his right hand to gently touch the glass panel of the window. "How could you think I was the right one for this job, Tobirama-sensei?" he shook his head. "Nobody is right for this task. Was the mantle as heavy on you, as it is for me?"

The old Sandaime grimaced. "You were supposed to be the first non-clan shinobi to become Hokage," his eyes narrowed to Minato Namikaze's portrait. "And what did you do? You ended up freeing the Kyuubi in the middle of the damn village! Do you know the backslash the village suffered because you couldn't keep your pants tight? Of course not! Look at you, smiling and being condescending from your spot on the wall!" the Sandaime took three steps towards the portrait, his eyes blazing with anger.

"I'm toying with the life of shinobi! Do you think I enjoy it? I hate using people! My sensei called me Saru for Kami's sake!" the Sandaime dropped the hat on the desk, bringing both hands to his hair as he breathed slowly. "I'm too old for this, Minato. I'm too old trying to soothe old wounds, to placate the clans' rigidity, to balance everyone and everything. What you're forcing me to do…this is _your entire fault_," he pointed the accusing finger towards Minato.

"You couldn't adopt a child, huh? No! You just had to fall in love with the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and marry her! We warned you! We all did…and you didn't even care. She's strong, she'll hold it…I lost my wife and you lost your life. I lost proud shinobi and half of the village's forces…and you…you condemned your child to live the life of a pariah because of a crime he hadn't committed."

Hiruzen gasped for air as he felt his chest constrict slightly. "Not yet," he murmured, forcing his breathing to even out as he felt the telltale signs of a stroke coming and going. "_Not yet_."

The Shinigami must have heard him, because he did not die in the following minutes.

"I don't hate you for having followed your childishly naïf heart, Minato," Hiruzen whispered. "But I would be lying if I said I didn't resent you for all the pain you have caused in your selfishness," he groaned as he sat back down at his chair. "Wherever you are, I hope you are watching…because I swear…I can't be the only one in pain because of this."

There was a moment of silence.

"The world can't be so unfair, after all."

The noise of the pen scribbling on the parchment slowly filled the silence afterwards, as the Sandaime returned to his paperwork with a slightly sweaty eyebrow…but his chest emptied of a heavy load.

He should rant to portraits more often.

The thought made him smile. He'd have to get one of Tsunade and Jiraiya…and maybe also one of Orochimaru.

Maybe a double copy for Orochimaru's: the first one might accidentally burn after all.

It was late at night, by the time Naruto returned home. Shimura Danzo was sitting comfortably on the armchair of the library room, a book in his lap. Naruto exhaled once, and then stepped forward.

The old shinobi opened his only eye and looked with curiosity at his arrival. "Naruto? You caught me asleep, I suppose old age does that," he chuckled.

"Neh, Danzo-sensei," Naruto said in a forced smile. "Is it true?"

"What is?" he remarked, furrowing his only visible brow.

"You're the Yami of shinobi…head of the counter-intelligence of Konoha?"

Danzo breathed in slowly. It had to have been Jiraiya. The man was as subtle as an elephant, and that was only during his best days. How he managed to uphold a line of spies across the elemental countries…that was beyond his ability to reason.

"I was that," he remarked. "I retired a long time ago."

Naruto just grimaced, before nodding. "You…you know who my father is?"

"I do," he whispered back.

"The Sandaime didn't want anyone to tell me, right?"

Danzo nodded. "That would have been bad…I take it Jiraiya of the Sannin told you?"

"It wasn't difficult to make two plus two," Naruto replied as he shook his head. "And it wasn't difficult to find out afterwards…really," he grimaced. "Hakashi Katake? Who would use that name as a substitute for his real one?"

A small smile spread on Danzo's face. "Very well," he nodded. "And you do not feel angered?"

Naruto shrugged. "Not much," he murmured. "I mean…he had to, didn't he? And I suppose I already screamed my anger a long time ago. It's just…well, it's not fair I suppose that I couldn't know."

"It was done also for your safety," Danzo nodded sagely. "Differently from…the Kyuubi's secret, your heritage was kept a secret to everyone but a selected few…and those numbers dwindled with the passing of time, until only old geezers remained and a few trusted Anbu."

"Neh, sensei," Naruto whispered. "Jiraiya-sama wanted to take me on as an apprentice," he looked sideways. "I didn't say yes."

"Uhm…a Genin your age would have jumped at the opportunity," Danzo said. "But I suppose you're more level-headed than others, Naruto."

The candle light flickered for a moment, as Danzo's single eye fixed itself on Naruto's twin cerulean orbs. "You know —if there is one thing that disgusts me, it is power without responsibility. Power should not belong to misguided fools, nor should it be free, cheap and available to all. The sweat of your own brow should be the minimum requisite to wield power, and responsibility in using it should be what truly distinguishes the man from the child."

He sighed. "Yet sometimes, clans end up teaching their children devastating techniques like the chakra fire ball, not caring if their precious spawns then use it to bully others… or the Hyuuga's ability of the gentle fist, drilled into their muscles since youth and that makes them able to kill by liquefying the opponent's inner organs with but a touch…" There was a grimace on Danzo's face. "Foolish, isn't it? Why should children barely of age be entrusted with mortal techniques?"

"Danzo-sensei?"

"You know that, in Root, I always made sure of their loyalty before entrusting them with anything worthy?" Danzo spoke calmly, "Many of them…they fought and bled with nothing more than a kunai and a Tanto strapped to their backs. In times of war things were different, but in peace…in peace you come to realize that handing over a technique to create a rock-slide to a schizophrenic shinobi is not the right way to go."

The old shinobi chuckled grimly. "I lost quite a bit of flesh after the war, rather than in the middle of it."

He grimaced. "War is…it's a terrible business, Naruto. It's horrible. It is heart wrenching. It guts you to the point where there is nothing left in you but a bitter old man who walks everyday through streets that are supposed to be familiar, but aren't, because you don't recognize the people who walk by…" his voice trailed off, before picking up once more. "And it hurts, to watch children grow into adults and then die because the enemy does not forget. It hurts to hear that your fellow comrades, your fellow shinobi, have died not of old age but of poisoning attempts, because the sons of those they killed came back for revenge."

He shuddered. "It is a vicious cycle, Naruto," his only eye moved back to his book. "A cycle that cannot be ended as long as someone perpetrates it… someone has to give. Someone has to fall. Someone has to give up. And nobody does," he bitterly chuckled. "Nobody ever does."

"Danzo-sensei? Why are you telling me…this?"

"When the Chuunin exams will come around," he looked at him firmly. "Your actions, all of them, will be recorded for posterity. Show yourself strong, and the enemies of Konoha will think twice before attacking the village. Show yourself weak…and war…war might come to the village within a week. _That is_… that is the extent of the burden you have to carry as the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi."

Naruto sucked in air sharply as his eyes widened. He clenched the sides of his jacket grabbing fistfuls of the fabric, before whispering back.

"So…I just have to win?"

"No," Danzo replied slowly standing up. "You have to do more," he said firmly. "You have to show your loyalty to the world, your disinterest, your might, your power and strength. _You have to become_ _the weapon that Konoha needs!_"

"I…I have to?" Naruto's voice felt choked as he showered in a strange lulling sensation. Danzo-sensei's voice had something of…hypnotic, to it.

"You have to," Danzo nodded grimly. "You have to fight your enemies, and you have to fight your friends. You have to win the tournament with the utmost ruthlessness, without caring for the forehead protector of your enemy. Show them your strength Naruto…and in doing so, you will save Konoha from the enemy."

"I…I will, Danzo-sensei," he replied slowly. His right hand clenched tightly. "I will show no mercy to those who oppose me during the tournament."

Danzo smiled. He smiled as he felt the slight dribble of blood fall down alongside his left eye. He brought down gently his sane hand over the boy's shoulder and, with a comforting pat, he whispered then.

"I'm sure you will, Naruto. _I'm sure you will_."

The weeks passed with ease after that, in a sort of hazy dream. He trained, he learned some sort of strange Bijuudama, he trained with his Tanto against Hakashi…he felt _strange_, but he couldn't pinpoint _why_. It was as if he was missing something important.

The day the Chuunin exams started, Naruto Uzumaki was quietly standing in line together with the rest of the Genin. To his right, he could see Sai calmly standing as if the time passed hadn't changed him at all.

"Dickless."

"Pervert."

They nodded to one another as they spoke, before turning to face the proctor…Kakashi Hatake.

The rest of the Genin-hopeful Chuunin were present, some more nervous, some less…

Haruno Sakura, however, was still missing.

"She can't be late," Naruto muttered. "We have to pass the exam together."

"Dickless, stop being nervous," Sai quipped. "There's still time."

The Hokage bit down on his pipe calmly, as he watched the Genin in line down below from the Kage box. He had received enough complaints about Sakura Haruno's disappearance from her parents…and if now the girl didn't show up? That wasn't going to be fine at all.

Where had Anko brought the girl to begin with?

"Konoha ninja," Oonoki grumbled from his side. "Always lacking in something…be it quality, quantity…or _punctuality_."

"Now, now, Tsuchikage," the Takigakure Kage remarked with a low grumbling noise, "That is a serious offense."

The Takigakure Kage had long spiky hair, dark eyes, and a goatee. He wore a dark blue jacket, grey pants, sandals, and a bandanna that held his hair out of his face. The robes he wore weren't white as those normally of the Kage, but more of a dark green color.

His bodyguard was a young dark skinned girl, with dark green hair and a sort of tomboyish grin plastered on her face.

"Thank you, Suien-dono," Hiruzen replied calmly. "But there will be no need. I am sure they have merely been delayed."

"To be late is to be dead," the Kumogakure ambassador remarked dryly. The Nibi Jinchuuriki looked towards the Iwagakure Kage with a calm ease, before drifting her gaze to the Hokage and then the Takigakure Kage. "What Kunoichi can this…Haruno be, if she is late to her own graduation?"

"Be as it may," the Otogakure Kage answered calmly. "It is not our decision whether to proceed or not with the exams. They are hosted by Konoha, thus it should be their rights to decide."

His Kage clothes were a striking deep purple, which contrasted sharply with his grey eyes and hair.

"Indeed," the Kazekage added next. "Arashi-san, while young, is correct. And considering just who is supposed to be coming to interrupt this…spectacle, it is for the best we take as much time as possible…to grant more time to the civilians to evacuate."

"Is this why you are here, Kazekage-sama?" the Takigakure Kage asked with a slight smirk. "I wonder how you feel about your youngest dying at the hand of a Konoha shinobi."

"I am actually thankful," the Kazekage shot back immediately, with a death glare powerful enough to make Suien swallow harshly. "My youngest was a menace which cost me far many shinobi of the sand. The people are happier now than before, and we have already received reparations for the loss of the Ichibi which will bring both Konoha and Suna closer in the future."

"Indeed," the Hokage quipped before taking a deep breath. "I will now announce the beginning of the exams. I'll have to—"

There was a flash of light, soon followed by a giant scroll coming down from one corner of the arena as the words…

_Mitarashi Anko's Sexy Apprentice arrives!_

…were written on the scroll. Those soon followed a pink blur, which landed, with a vicious smirk, in the middle between Sai and Naruto. The blur's hands then shot out to grab both Naruto's and Sai's neck with her arm and hug them both while doing a victory sign and sticking her tongue out. One of Sakura's eyes was closed in a wink, even thought there was a nasty gash running across it as if a feral beast had clawed it.

Her sleeveless fishnet shirt showed off her arms, filled with small nicks and scars that could only result from forcefully parrying shurikens with only the bare flesh. Her hair was short, with streaks of purple and green running across it.

She hummed a nice tune as she let go of her teammates, before stretching widely for a moment. She wore a short brown mini-skirt that came close to indecency, and beneath her fishnet shirt one could clearly see a one-piece black dress —the only sign of modesty somewhere on her body.

Her left ear had a piercing apparently, as a small green jewel was stuck in her earlobe.

"Ahem," Kakashi coughed slightly. "Haruno Sakura?"

The pink-haired girl nodded vivaciously.

"You're late."

Somehow, the deeply settled irony of the statement escaped everyone…except those who knew Kakashi Hatake's tardiness.

Sakura blinked once, and then… then she flipped him the bird.

Kakashi just chuckled.

Meanwhile, at the hospital of Konohagakure no Sato, Hinata Hyuga watched from her wheelchair the arena through the television settled in the common room. Her father had actually visited her and told what had happened…and what she had to do from there on.

She hadn't even cried.

She had just numbly pleaded to watch the Chuunin exams. She's entrust her feelings, her will…to simply watch Naruto-kun winning the tournament. She held no doubt the boy would win in her heart. Standing there with a wool sheet over her unresponsive legs, watching the first two contestants settling on the ring as a group of sick children awed at the two fighters…

She could have become a nurse, had she been born in a civilian family.

She could have…she could have been the kind lady talking to the elderly kunoichi who was looking with interest at the screen, or the burly and stern-looking matron who had a golden heart and held two small children on her shoulders to let them see the television better.

Yet there she was.

A cripple who couldn't use her legs.

A worthless Hyuga who was good enough only to be used as a political marriage piece, to then be discarded in a corner of the house like some sort of 'grown out of' vest never to be taken out again from the closet. She held both of her delicate hands to her chest as she bit her lower lip in pain, a pain that came from her heart and soul and not from her body.

Her father was a stern piece of ice next to her. She supposed he was so much beyond being disgusted that he simply didn't care if she actually died there or not.

"Father?" she whispered.

"Yes, Hinata?"

"I'm sorry."

Hiashi Hyuga took a deep breath and composed himself. He closed his eyes for a moment, a trickle of sweat running down his forehead. He could do this.

He just had to say 'it wasn't your fault'. Sure, it was to admit weakness and a Hyuga never admitted weakness, but as it was right now, there wasn't any reason to insist. Hinata was no longer a viable kunoichi. He didn't have to force her to grow up stern and tough. He could let her go. He could…he could act kindly if he wished to.

He didn't say those words.

He said others.

"You should be."

The girl just sadly lowered her head after that.

Hiashi would have kicked himself in the head.

And as the silence grew in the room, the announcer finally exclaimed…

"_And the First Match of the Chuunin Exams, Neji Hyuga against Sakura Haruno will now begin!"_

And with those words…

The Chuunin's final Exam began.

**Author's notes.**

**Of course, the 'Anime-only' 'secondary missions' eccetera went on with a different ending…**

**There isn't yet an OC in here. (Except Hebi, but then again…)**

**I made the time-skip happen **_**without**_** revealing what Sakura went through, or what Naruto and Kakashi could talk about with the Yondaime out in the open, or what Sai learned from Kurenai, because if I have to let you readers **_**suffer**_** through the Chuunin Exam battles, I'd rather let you read of what happened in the following bouts. **

**And for whoever believed Danzo to be a nice, good, and cheerful guy…**

**Enjoyed his **_**orders**_**?**

**The Sharingan-Mangekyou ability is actually untraceable. (I already discussed this in Harsh Truth, not doing it again) And this *is* the first time he uses it on Naruto.**

**Little notes:**

**Chapter 26 has the Hokage give a speech similar to the Danzo one of this chapter, but their end results are different. Who caught on that?**

**Since neither the Hokage nor Danzo were present on the day of the extraction, it comes to term that 'the foolish Yondaime' could not keep his own promise. **

'**Shiore' is supposed to be the Kunoichi Orochimaru 'masks' himself as.**

**Suien is the bad guy of the Hero Water anime side.**

**The 'army' movement because of a single S-rank threat:**

**S-rank is Kage. Kage is 'one man army'. Orochimaru is thus an 'enemy army' who could potentially inflict as much if not more damage than a real one.**

**Anko acted in a sort of canon-naruto way with the Hokage. **

**Sabiru is another Anime Jounin. (Apparently he can separate your soul from your body and is in charge of the defenses of Konoha)**

**Yes, the Takigakure bodyguard is Fuu. **

**Otogakure's kage is Arashi. (Fuma clan)**

**Next chapter…**

_**War! Violence! Death!**_


	29. The Second Announces the Drama

Introverted

Chapter Twenty-Nine

There was so much _blood_ on her hands it didn't even wash away properly —not that she had tried. There was so much pain running around her body, dancing in the sun's glare —she had never seen pain before, it was strange and _exciting_. There were quite a bit of _colors_ around her too. Naruto was orange-like, Sai was dressed in navy blue and looked like Sasuke. The Proctor looked strange too…was he laughing at her? She'd give him the bird. It was the only thing she could do after all…horrible proctor, telling her she's late when they are all early... She had felt safe _hugging_ her teammates, because it meant she was still alive and could still _feel_.

It had been so cold for so long…She loved them because they _protected_ her, and they loved her because she protected them.

The scary purple woman was a whore. Yes, she was a bad, bad whore who had to die slowly for taking her away from her team. She kept on the smiling face and the half-dumb grinning even as her teammates had to leave her behind. She was sad because of that…but she'd meet them again soon. She just had to make the white eyed enemy die. Make him stay still on the ground drenched in blood…there was so much blood on her hands…wasn't there?

"Haruno Sakura," the silver-haired proctor stated, "And Neji Hyuga," he retorted pointing his single eyed gaze at the Hyuga branch member, "Begin."

Neji had no qualms hitting girls. It took him the moment to activate his byakugan however, to understand something was _wrong_ with that particular girl.

She wasn't running away from him, but closing in with a kunai in hand. He scoffed at such a crude display, his left hand shooting forward to counter-strike the girl's wrist, to shatter her bone and then deliver a devastating gut punch to the pink-haired _imbecile_ that believed she could win against a Taijutsu user who had trained extensively in the art for _years_.

Really, what did she think…that she could win by training hard for as little as she had and defeat him?

There was no dodging his counterstrike. There was no strange technique or chakra spike. His punch actually connected with the girl's guts and settled the match in a single strike. Only a tiny amount of chakra actually escaped the girl's chakra coils an instant before his fist connected. There was no Genjutsu or strange other technique afterwards…only the body of the pink haired Genin crumbling down on the ground.

At least, that was what he had _expected_ to happen. The girl instead…she just _smiled_ as blood came out of her mouth, _without falling down_. He was pretty sure he had hit her hard.

"_Boom_," she choked out through pained groans. Her black shirt, hidden beneath her fishnet one, opened up with that single whispered word. His attack hadn't cleanly landed on her stomach, but against tags that had been tied to the girl's skin, and which she had activated with a precise chakra pulse in the same instant as his arm had shot forward to deliver his own devastating blow.

A thick cloud of pollen, poisonous vapors, itching powders and whatnot exploded and passed through Sakura's fishnet shirt within mere instants, engulfing the Hyuga before he could even reason what had happened. Neji screamed in pain as he began to furiously claw at his own eyes, rolling on the ground.

Sakura was in her happy world. She was in a place where the pain couldn't reach her, because she knew that if she returned to the non-happy world she was going to suffer. She was in the happy world where nothing bad happened. She was in the world where everyone and everything was fine. She was happy. Her skin was on fire, her body convulsing and filled with spasms but she…she was fine. All the poisons had a short duration. They meant to make the body spasm for a few minutes at most.

She just had to relax and let them run their course. Really, she was in a happy place. It was a happy place, where her parents loved to stay at home and where her teammates were there for her.

She wasn't going to let some dumb Hyuga prick hurt her teammates —not a chance in hell. She'd get him first. She stopped convulsing after a short while, taking a few steps forward as the kunai she had been clutching with her now broken wrist seemed to be glinting and whispering to her 'kill him'. She couldn't move mister shiny-kunai however. It didn't want to move.

Therefore, she took out mister shiny-sword and tried to plunge it deeply into the Hyuga-bastard's eyes. It didn't work because the proctor decided against it, and stopped her from executing the Hyuga.

"Haruno Sakura," he said then and she finally heard him and grinned dumbly. "You have won the match."

"Yeahhh…" she whispered in her low voice, before spitting out blood from her mouth and wobbling all the way out of the arena while bobbing her head up and down as if half-drooling.

"Medic-nin!" Kakashi snapped his fingers, letting the Chuunin shinobi arrive and take care of both the winner and the loser.

Naruto had watched the entire fight happen in front of his eyes, from his position on the box of the contestants. His knuckles clenched hard against the metal of the guardrail as he ground his teeth. What had happened? Why had that…why had _that_ happened?

"Neji lost," the girl of team Nine murmured from the other side of the box, her face pale. "How did she…"

"I don't know," Naruto suddenly snapped, "But I'm going to find out who tried to get my teammate _killed_ _and I will kill her so brutally_ they will talk of it in the years to come."

His eyes shone crimson for a moment, as the Kages up in the box appeared to be deliberating over the match.

"Interesting match," the Kazekage remarked. "Short lived, but then again that's the way it should be…poison used seemed to be a fairly normal blend. No tolerance to poison in the Hyuga?"

"I recognized a few of the herbs used by the color," the Takigakure chief replied. "It is a simple but effective idea actually…a kill switch based on the eventual lack of chakra."

"The precision to execute it however must be astonishing," the Otogakure leader remarked. "The tags had to be primed with chakra _before_ the lack of chakra forced the paper tags to disperse, and she still took a devastating blow to her own chakra coils. For her to _stand_ after that, with a broken wrist I might add, and try to finish the enemy? The pain must have been excruciating. Did she _drug_ herself to numb the pain? It would explain her behavior and her late arrival…she couldn't waste time with the drug in her bloodstream."

"A tricky way to deal with a Hyuga, I admit," the Hokage acquiesced. "Ultimately a one-shot skill, but still…the principle is workable." Mentally, Hiruzen decided to give a nice tongue-lashing to Anko for her apparent decision to overlook the long-term effects of such training.

"She comes from a civilian background, correct?" the Nibi Jinchuuriki remarked calmly as her narrow gaze went for a moment to the contestant stands, where the brief spike of a chakra that felt familiar to her was stirring the two-tailed demon from its slumber.

"Indeed," the Hokage nodded. "That amount of devotion and self-sacrifice to the cause is something that any Chuunin should possess."

"Someone helped her with the tags," the Nibi said dryly. "The execution was top-mark, but the before and after…I doubt she will be able to stand for the next fight. It was a Kamikaze attack, inexcusable on a battlefield unless the very last moment and on the brink of defeat...and even then, explosive tags would have been better."

"I am with Hokage-dono on this," the Kazekage replied. "And the point was illustrated clearly with or without explosive tags. She is Chuunin-rank."

"Loath as I am to admit it, there is little more to say," the Otogakure chief murmured. "It seems the Byakugan itself can be countered with simple ink…what a terrible thing."

"Fuinjutsu has always been a dangerous art, even a so called prodigy like Neji Hyuga can be defeated with wits," Hiruzen said. He quickly scribbled the Chuunin rank beneath Sakura Haruno's name. The fight had been short, anti-climactic…shinobi-like.

"The next match may begin!" the Hokage exclaimed then.

With a flash of speed, Naruto Uzumaki descended in the arena with crimson red chakra lapping around his entire frame. The ground cracked under his mere presence as his crimson orbs held a gaze of pure murder. His right hand slammed in a fist against his left, before he snarled.

"_Well_?"

Tenten Satou swallowed nervously. She had been present when the boy had begun the fight that had ended with the death of the Suna ninja. She had seen just what he could do before running away with her team. There was no way she could _win_…whatever bloodline the boy had made him a monster, but she had to try. At least, if she put up a good show, she had a chance to become a Chuunin and move on to more rewarding missions, find a Jounin to apprentice to and be one-step closer to becoming like Tsunade of the Sannin, her idol.

She jumped down in the arena, taking her distance from her opponent and clenching on her scrolls packed with weapons. She had trained for this…she could win this.

Naruto's right foot tapped against the ground. "Well?" he smirked. "Are we going to begin?"

"No killing, if it can be avoided," Kakashi spoke. The silver haired shinobi locked eyes with Naruto's crimson orbs and Tenten's dark ones, before finally whispering out: "You may now begin."

Tenten jumped backwards, as she extracted three scrolls one after the other in rapid succession from her back. Chakra poured as they unclasped, letting projectile after projectile fly out and land in a continuous barrage against the spot where Naruto was standing _still_.

Many landed against the boy's shoulders, slamming into his chest or his body as he simply widened his arms with a feral grin and a look that was half of _ecstasy_ and half of _rage_. "Hey, girl," he snarled as shurikens the size of his body tore through his jacket, their jagged edges and points tearing his skin and making him bleed. "Are you the trap specialist of your team?"

"W-What if I am!?" she yelled back at the boy who didn't even seem _fazed_ from the copious amount of blood lost, or from the amount of metal that was currently piercing his entire frame.

"Then I have a debt to repay," he snarled. "A debt of blood…"

As he said that, all the weapons, the projectiles frown, all the pieces and bits of metal that had embedded in his skin flew out of his body with a vigorous explosion of metallic shrapnel. Naruto's entire body shrouded itself in the chakra cloak of the Kyuubi, giving him a fox-like appearance as twin tails swashed away behind him.

"And let it be known…_that the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki always pays his debts back tenfold_!"

His right hand pushed itself forward as a chakra-claw advanced on the scared Tenten, who barely dodged it. The caustic chakra managed to wound her cheek slightly from its mere presence as the ferocious sting it caused made the long-range user wince in pain. The small nick on the girl's cheek increased in size drastically, leaving behind an actually wide gash on her side.

"What is left to grow too much, starts to rot," Naruto sing-sung, as he lowered himself on all fours.

Kakashi wanted to call the match in that moment.

He wanted to, but he was too late. The boy's speed was beyond what he, without the sharingan, could see. Soon, both hands of Naruto Uzumaki had plunged deeply into Tenten's own stomach, piercing her entire body apart as they emerged reddish with blood on the other side…

And the screams…

They made _him_ shudder.

In the sewer-like mind, the Kyuubi watched with amusement the scene unfold. Beyond the bars, Naruto was looking in shock at the same thing. His skin was pale and his eyes wide. He hadn't wanted that to happen, probably.

"What's going on?" Naruto screamed from within his own mind, looking at the Nine-Tails as if he had the answer to it. He actually did.

"Look above you, Naruto," he replied soothingly.

Naruto did just that and as he did, he blanched.

A twisted red and black eye looked at him from above the ceiling, spinning wildly more and more. It resembled a sort of three-pronged shuriken, but it just felt…wrong. It felt evil just by _looking_ at it.

"The power of the Mangekyou Sharingan," the Kyuubi snarled from his own cage. "Terrible power, cursed and wretched and _stolen_ from me," the nine-tailed fox roared and laughed at the same time. "How it feels, I wonder." He chuckled. "How it feels…to be betrayed? To be forced against one's own will? To have freedom taken away and never given back? How does it feel, Naruto Uzumaki…to be myself?"

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked softly, taking a step back and falling in the water from the shock of recoiling from the thing. "What is that thing!?"

"You can't remember…the _Kotoamatsukami_ steals and rapes the mind and the memories. The power of unbridled malice, uncontrolled hatred, unquenchable thirst for vengeance birthed it...I offered it as a gift to the first born of the Sage of the six paths, a gift of friendship…from brother to brother." He laughed bitterly. "This is what he made of it. It was supposed to ensure _loyalty_ _between friends_, it bred domination and tyranny."

Naruto heard a sickening sound all around him, as the water seemed to reflect his Kyuubi-influenced form attack and tear apart the sides of the kunoichi he was battling. How could the girl still be alive!? Why was no one intervening?

"Show no mercy to your enemies," the Kyuubi's crimson eyes shone brightly as the demon spoke. "Be the weapon Konoha wishes you to become. Well, who am I to refuse such an offer?"

"Stop it!" he yelled.

"Stop it? Why?" it was a third voice that asked, with a tone all too familiar to Naruto… because it was his _own_. "It's so much fun!"

Sickening dark red eyes and a feral smirk settled on a face identical to his a few meters away. "Well, Naruto? Nothing to say?" his clone opened his arms wide. "No saying hello to your brother in anguish? I felt all alone down here, you know? Wallowing in misery, hearing the big fuzzy ball snarl and rant about 'malice' and 'hatred of the world', watching you go around smiling and acting like the glares and the stares didn't matter…"

He smirked. "Then thankfully you changed a bit. It was nice, you know…no longer being left in a corner. Silence and muttering of how we were going to kill them…but it lasted too little," his dark-self whispered. "Too little time in the light makes me go mad, you know?"

His clone brought up his right hand clenched in a fist as he growled. "It's time for payback, Naruto. They have to pay _and_ suffer _and_ scream! They dared talk behind our backs; act as if _we_ were scum…when _they_ should have honored us! They should have kissed the ground where we walked! They should have held us up high as heroes, not slammed us in the dirt like monsters!"

His Dark-Self laughed out bitterly as he pointed his finger to the ceiling. "That thing over there? It grants me freedom. Finally…_**I. Am. Free.**_ Your deepest desires, your darkest secrets…that person at the market? Let us _slaughter_ him. That woman who hates us and gives us those nasty glares? Let's kill her son and rape her daughter, before feasting on her blood like we should! They will bow to us. All of them…they will know our power and tremble beneath our strength…together, brother, let's do this," the dark Naruto extended his hand towards him. "We are the same, you and I…together, _we can fight them_. Together, we can defeat them. Together, we can cleanse this world of the darkness that inhabits it. Together…don't you want this? Don't you want to be free? To be unchained, unclasped to ideals that do not belong to you? Don't you want…don't you want _revenge_ for the way they treated you?"

Another strong impact resounded as the girl's chest was literally ripped apart by the strength of one of his blows…_and yet she was still alive_. He was torturing her by tearing her own body apart and keeping her alive at the same time. Naruto felt sick. "Well? They will all die anyway, brother," the dark-him took a step forward, and as he did the water around him turned to grime and dark rotting blood, expanding like a sickening patch of oil on the liquid. "But together…together we can make their deaths painless and swift…"

"No," he shook his head. "No," he growled out.

"So you refuse me?" his dark-self replied. "You refuse my might, my power, the strength that could guide you flawlessly to freedom? And for who? A half sociopath who makes pretty drawings? A sensei that you barely know? A girl who let you down and then acts like a lunatic on a drug high? An old man who views you like a hero and does nothing to act upon it!? Is this what you are exchanging your freedom for? These…these rotten remains of a putrid society unfit to exist? These…these stench filled bodies that will eventually rot and die?"

"They're not like that!" Naruto screamed.

"No? Then look!" a sickening crunch, a horrendous sound of something squishy being taken out…and when his gaze turned to the puddle of water, the girl he had been fighting had its entrails _removed_. Her eyes were wide in fear as the claw-like hand of Naruto held steadily onto them, healing and at the same time burning and ripping through her flesh.

The girl's screams echoed throughout the sewer-like area now filled with the stench of blood and the moans of the wounded. She no longer had a lower half of her body, but she was still alive. She was still alive even as her entrails were on the ground, her upper half torn apart and held by the same chakra hands that had attacked her before. She was constantly rotting and healing, the pain…the pain was…

"_**LET ME GO PLEAASE IT HURTS PLEAASEEE PLEASE HURT HURT HURT HURT IT HURTSS PLEASEEE**_" the girl's screams turned into a cacophony of noise and sounds as Naruto clutched both of his ears. He shuddered and trembled as he fell on the ground, his knees sinking deeply within the dirty water that seemed to sprout half-rotten hands that clasped at his clothes, his vest, his flesh and seemed to be pulling him down through the water.

In that final, fleeting, instant…Naruto Uzumaki's throat let out a single half-wretched sob.

"_Enough_."

And then chakra chains shot throughout the entire room, twisting and pulling away at the rot that was encrusting the walls, binding tightly against the dark-self of Naruto and pulling him within the seal just as the body of the real Naruto was stopped from drowning and gently brought back on his feet.

The noises and the screams of pain soon subsided.

Naruto felt himself return to the world of the living, as the chakra surrounding him disappeared in a flash. On the ground, laid rotten and _still twitching_ was the body of his opponent.

Her blood soaked the grounds. Naruto's eyes looked from her dying form to that of the proctor, who seemed to be holding himself still as a stone.

"I won," Naruto remarked calmly. It was enough to start the avalanche of screams from the people in the stands. It was enough to make Kakashi return to his senses long enough to weakly nod.

Death was something that happened in the tournament. It was something rare. Something that wasn't meant to be among shinobi of the same village, but that happened all the same when mistakes were made. He had been so lost in his thoughts and remembrance of the Kyuubi's attack when the thick malice of the beast's chakra had blanketed the area, that he hadn't even called the victor.

If he had, would it have changed anything? The first blow would have been fatal anyway, and he knew he should have called the match there and then…but he _couldn't_. He couldn't because there was no way he could link that boy, that boy covered in blood and with crimson eyes to the one he had been teaching till then.

He hoped against all hopes that his sensei's son wouldn't turn out as a blood-thirsty monster, that his words on not wanting to kill anyone and on not claiming revenge were real…he had told him that much, when he had come clean on knowing who his father was.

Then this had happened. He had outright murdered, toyed with, even…eaten the girl. Tenten Satou was an orphan from the war, she had been living in the orphanage for a while until she had moved out for one of the one-room apartments the Genin got from the state.

And there she now was, dead…nobody deserved to die in their village, and nobody especially deserved that type of death. This was only supposed to be some normal exam; sure, deaths were possible but…

Up above, in the Kage stands, the Hokage was trying to act like the calmest person. The Nibi Jinchuuriki was actually the calm one. The Tsuchikage was half-way through a shit-eating grin and the other allies of Konoha were instead failing to act calm.

"Was this display designed to impress us on the ruthlessness of your village, Hokage-sama? You must have recovered your losses quite proficiently, if you are willing to see your own shinobi die at the hand of your Jinchuuriki. He does appear to be quite…in control, if a bit on the sadistic side." Nothing she couldn't kill or face however. She was confident that she defeated him in speed and power…as well as experience. Unless he could control more tails of power, then it was clear who was…

"You would die." The Nibi simply spoke three words with her unnatural calmness. "The Kyuubi is different. He has always been different." She actually added some words to her short-cut sentence, before returning to her usual mask of indifference.

"How can he be different? He is no different than you or the Hachibi," Yugito grumbled in her mind. "And you could give me more information about him. I'd just ask Bee to ask the Hachibi anyway."

"Then do so," the Nibi remarked placidly. "It is not my task to answer your questions."

"I believe you should pull him out of the exam, Hokage-dono," the Otogakure chief spoke. "He will without a doubt be a Chuunin. We saw his might right now…to see him fight again would be…"

"Don't you dare!" the Tsuchikage actually laughed at that. "I want to see him fight my granddaughter! If he's really in control, then he won't kill her will he? And if he isn't, then this is only bark and no bite!"

"And if he does kill your granddaughter?" Suien replied. "Will you claim it your fault?"

"Tsk, if he can manage to out speed me, then I will retire from my position," Oonoki remarked with a dry chuckle. "Well, is your proctor daydreaming or what? Have him take the corpse out of the field…unless he wants to leave it there for the next bout?"

Meanwhile, in the hospital's common room Hinata was desperately clutching on to the wool cloth that covered her legs. Her eyes were wide and trembling, tears streaking down her cheeks as she had just watched the carnage happen in a blur. From the small screen, all she had managed to glimpse was Naruto suddenly turn into a red blur, before slamming into his opponent and then…

The screams had begun. They had been so horrid even the children had to leave, and her father had tried to get her out too. She had remained instead, her hand having firmly grasped her father's arm when he had attempted to take her away.

She had said 'no' to him for that... _and he had let her_.

Hinata had watched, but mostly she had heard the screams. She had seen the blood fly, the bits and pieces fall off and she had felt sick…but she hadn't retched. She had fought against the queasiness in her stomach and had held in a vice-like grip of steel her father's hand with both of hers, like she did when she was little and he was still kinder.

"What is that?" she whispered in fright. "What…Where is…Where is Naruto-kun in that?"

She couldn't see Naruto-kun. She saw a beast of red and crimson, a monster born of darkness. She saw nothing resembling the laughing blonde-haired person with deep striking blue eyes she admired from afar.

"You know the Jinchuuriki?" Hiashi asked calmly. The boy had practically announced it to the world —he doubted the third's law was still in effect after that. He was slightly perplexed at the 'kun' suffix, but said nothing for the moment. He could school his displeasure perfectly after all.

"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata stammered out. "He…He was always smiling in class," she shyly whispered. "I…I admired him. H-He was a…a failure, like me," she croaked out, "But…but he always smiled. He…he fought on," she shook her head slowly. "Th-That isn't Naruto-kun," she whispered again. "It's…It can't be…him."

"A Jinchuuriki is the host of a Bijuu," Hiashi spoke without really knowing why he was telling his daughter that. "When the Kyuubi attacked Konoha the Yondaime had to seal it in a baby," he remarked. "That baby was Naruto Uzumaki, an orphan."

"H-He has the Kyuubi inside of him?"

"Yes," Hiashi nodded once firmly. "And Jinchuuriki…they are renowned for being weapons of mass destruction. The Ichibi, the weakest of them all…it could raze Sunagakure to the ground if given time. Fuinjutsu, the art of sealing, was the only known mean to counteract the demons. The first Hokage sealed the demons and handed them away to ensure peace…but then somehow the Kyuubi got free and attacked Konoha."

"N-Naruto-kun wasn't liked because of that?"

"Indeed," the head of the Hyuga clan whispered. "Why hold him prisoner, when killing the baby would give Konoha years of peace? The fools knew nothing of sealing or demons. They didn't know that the demons simply cannot die, but are reformed countless times until sealed."

He looked at Hinata then. "You all weren't supposed to know. It wasn't just for his safety…but to ensure the enemy villages didn't attack Konoha in a moment of weakness. The tale that had to spread was of a mature shinobi holding the Kyuubi, to keep the enemies away."

Just as Hinata nodded numbly, somewhere else in the same hospital Sakura was slowly opening her eyes. She actually felt _somewhat_ nice. There was a sort of…peace in her body.

It lasted three seconds, and then pain wracked her entire frame as she felt her muscles as if they were combusting in flames. The convulsion stopped a moment later, but by then her peace of mind was shattered. She saw the drip and the needle inserted in her arm. She saw the nurse entering with hurry to look at her. She even heard her speak…but it didn't matter to her.

"T-Teammates?" she whispered. Her voice felt weak. The Teammates were important. It was the only thought she had managed to keep in her mind. That and 'going boom' when the time was needed. She didn't actually remember much else.

Only the forest that looked at her and didn't see her, but prey to eat. The forest was evil. She was going to burn it down when she had the time.

The bad guy was white-eyed, and she hoped he had died with her boom. Even if he hadn't, she was going to kill him anyway.

The purple haired whore had told her so. She had to be broken, and then mended again, but since they didn't have much time she would just break her and give her something to do while broken. Yeah, that was all there was. Nothing more, really…she said something about doing it multiple times…something of a failsafe with captured enemy shinobi exchanged back…

She convulsed again.

The nurse called for a doctor, didn't she?

There were no doctors in the forest. She had bled and used leafs to heal herself. Not the poisonous ones of course, she remembered Sai's words on those. And Naruto had told her of food to eat and not-to. She had daydreamed of being there with her teammates. It had been nice…were her Naruto-stick and her Sai-stick still back there?

The tiger's blood felt warm.

No, there were no tigers. She was safe…so why was she holding the doctor with the needle on the ground? Oh, she had broken his arm…

Accidents happen, don't they?

Two big bad shinobi entered afterwards, and so she had to snarl at them and attack them.

It was the only way to survive in the jungle after all.

Prey or predator, right?

She was _done_ being the prey.

"That's the reason no-one should train beneath Anko," one of the two shinobi interns of the hospital muttered after gripping the girl's waist and holding her still, so that the second one could pierce her neck with a sedative. Outside the room in shock were both of the girl's parents looking inside with wide eyes. The woman's right hand was to her mouth, while the father's fists clenched tightly.

"Sakura? Honey?" Mebuki whispered with a pleading tone as she took a step forward.

"Stay back ma'am," the nurse said, moving away from the doctor who was cradling his broken arm. "It's…well, it's going to be all right once we get a Yamanaka in here."

"Keep her strapped," the doctor snapped out with a bit more of anger than normal —after all, he had his arm broken by the girl. "And sedated…once they've taken her memories and placed them under lock, have her start therapy with a psychiatrist."

"What is going on?" Kizashi asked then, his eyes moving from his daughter's unresponsive body —who was laying in the bed now, and was being strapped by the interns— to the doctor who had a grimace on his face.

"She's not the first one to break after a traumatic experience, sir. It happens regularly. That's why Chuunin-above get regular visits to the psychiatrist. We were warned on who trained her, but well…" the doctor sighed. "We couldn't risk drugging her with anything heavy, not with the state her kidneys are right now…and her inner chakra coils? They're scrambled."

"What does it mean?"

"It means," the man's eyes settled on Kizashi, "That it will take a while for her to heal. Physically? She'll be fine in a few weeks. Mentally? It might take months for her to assimilate whatever she has gone through…and knowing Anko Mitarashi…it had to be something _horrible_."

"But…she'll be back to her normal self, right?" Mebuki asked, as her right hand went to caress a lock of pink hair that was half-dyed green. "This isn't dye," she whispered then. "It's…grass?"

"We don't usually make predictions on these cases," the doctor replied. "Sometimes…they heal. Sometimes…they don't. Most of the time they simply keep on functioning like time bombs…we generally try and suggest them to find an administrative work spot, somewhere nice and quiet like the archives or the likes, but only a few actually listen."

"I-I see doctor…"

"Yakushi," the doctor replied. "Now, if she wakes up and there is no one around do not agitate her. If she says something then be condescending, but do not actually let her leave, understood? Don't undo the straps and if she acts violently or risks harming herself call a nurse. I know she is your daughter, sir…but she is also a kunoichi. They can be extremely violent when in this state," the doctor's sane hand went up to squeeze gently Kizashi's shoulder. "I insist on this. Do not under any circumstance attempt anything alone. Call a nurse, an intern, or someone if she wakes up with only you in the room."

"I…I understand."

"Good," and with that the doctor left to have his broken arm placed in a cast.

The interns and the nurse left soon afterwards and in the end, only the two of them remained. They both sat next to Sakura's prone form on the bed.

"My little girl," Mebuki whispered. "She looks so…peaceful."

"It was only months ago that she went on about the Uchiha," Kizashi murmured with a hard tone. "If this…If I had known this would happen…"

"Why her? Why not someone else?"

"I…I don't—"

A sharp knock at the door interrupted the couple's talking, and they both looked towards it as it opened slowly.

A man with dark short hair and a stern expression entered next, his left hand holding onto the clinical records of Sakura probably.

"Ah, excuse me," he replied closing the door behind him. "I'm Doctor Torune…"

Kizashi felt a slight itching sensation up his arm…and he barely glanced towards his wife to see her cross her arms over her chest and look at the doctor with a look of worry. She was also scratching her left shoulder.

"Is everything all right, doctor? Doctor Yakushi said…"

"Oh, don't worry," the Doctor smiled then. "_Everything will be fine_."

The corpse of Tenten was removed from the arena, just as Naruto climbed back up on the contestants' box. His hands were still covered in dried blood when the green spandex clad boy from the same team as the girl pounced and grabbed him by the clothes.

"YOU!" he screamed with tears in his eyes. "First Neji, then Tenten! You monster! How could you!? You—"

"Shut up," the Otogakure kunoichi snapped. "Your teammate was trash for losing anyway. In Oto if you lose you _die_. It's as simple as that," she rolled her eyes. "At least someone is taking the exam _seriously_. Leave the brat alone."

"Y…you! You most _unyouthful_ person!"

"Let go of my teammate," Sai's voice was cold and composed, but the kunai placed at the neck of Rock Lee was showing the exact opposite. "You can fight him if you win the tournament."

Naruto staggered back as Rock Lee let him go, before turning and moving to the far-end corner of the box they were in. "I will avenge my teammate with the fire of youth," he snapped pointing his finger straight at Naruto. "You are not worthy of being my youthful rival…but I will avenge Tenten."

Sai's eyes fixated on Naruto, as the blond boy returned the gaze with a mixture of worry and perplexity.

"What happened, Dickless?"

"I…_I don't know_." He whispered out those words just as, beneath them, Kurotsuchi and Kidomaru began to battle…

With the sound of battle raging on, nobody heard the soft footsteps of Orochimaru, as all around him the village burned and was torn apart piece by piece by his men.

"Leave no survivors!" he barked out as he wielded the Kusanagi and pointed forward. "Come on! Let us be the wind that makes the windmill spin! Let us bring change to this world! For our future, for perfection! Let us fight and destroy these rotten bastards! Kill them all! Destroy them all! Let none survive our wrath!"

"_**Hai, Orochimaru-sama**_!" and as a single man hundreds of sound-nin converged as one against the titanic structure of wood that was Takigakure's main defensive position. The village hidden by the waterfall would soon fall, and as the secrets of the Hero water would be delivered onto him, he couldn't help but laugh.

Hebi was next to him, shuddering and slightly worried. Orochimaru-sama had inked some sort of seal on her neck, but hadn't activated it yet. She couldn't help but feel worried because…well, of course their leader wouldn't just kill her, but then again…

There were screams all around her, as the lack of a Kage, of a Chief or of their Jinchuuriki actually facilitated the defeat of the small and enclosed village.

There was nothing but death all around her…

…it reminded her of home, somewhat.

**Author's notes**

…

**I actually felt sick writing Tenten's demise.**

**And…really…you weren't expecting a Shounen-training period with relative win, right?**

**Ps: Kotoamatsukami's cooldown is reduced with Hashirama cells. Naruto-Wikia is generally the source of my infos.**


	30. The Third Delivers the Antagonist

Introverted

Chapter Thirty

Naruto had long stopped using his own tiny voice in his mind to calm himself down since a long time before. When he was little, and couldn't understand why the people whispered at him or left him alone, he used to talk to himself and play by himself. Sure, he didn't like that, but he also didn't want to admit the truth that maybe the other people were the one wrong and not him. He had done nothing, but if the bad children were those ignored and left in a corner, the ones that didn't get ice-cream or the likes, then something was bad with him too.

He had tried, really. He had tried hard to please the people around him…but when it failed, because undoubtedly it did fail, he had retreated into himself more than once.

It never lasted long. There always was something or someone that soon brought him back to his normal self. Like a child ignoring their parents' orders just because they weren't around that afternoon, or being given by mistake something like any other child before they realized who he was. He had always made it a point to smile brightly at that, to show he was just like the others.

Then, of course, this had to happen.

He could hear them, the whispers filled with malice. He could see them, the people in the arena gazing at him hard, or with fear. He could feel their gaze upon his skin, trying to tear apart his very body with just their looks.

He didn't know what had taken him. He didn't know why he had done that. _He_ _couldn't_ _remember_.

Naruto watched with dispassionate feelings how Kurotsuchi tore through Kidomaru's tactics of using steel wire and archery with the usage of walls of stone and disappearing in the ground. Iwagakure was famous for its strategy of attrition against attackers. Their fortifications, lines of defenses and whatnot had held against Konoha up to the point the Yondaime had created his Hiraishin…after that, they had settled for peace.

Kidomaru actually yielded before Kurotsuchi could deliver a fatal blow, and soon the proctor raised its hand to signal the next two contestants to come down.

Sai looked from the arena being cleared and returned to its neutral state to Naruto, before slowly giving the blond boy a pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll always be Dickless no matter what you do."

Naruto's hands clenched against the guardrail of the box, before slowly nodding to Sai. "Go down there, Pervert. The spandex-freak is already there," he replied in a whisper, pointing to where Rock Lee was already standing making flexion. "Kick his ass."

"I'll stab him…hurts more," Sai replied calmly before making his way down.

Sai reached for his position opposite to his opponent, and slowly brought his right hand hovering over his paintbrush.

_Imagine. Materialize. Replicate._

He concentrated on the feeling of Yin chakra as he created a similar scene to that depicted, but with him being a bit closer than reality. This would have given him the advantage the moment the fight began, because if the enemy came up short with Taijutsu, then all he'd have to do was to stick a blade to the boy's neck and be done with it.

"You may begin," as soon as the proctor said that, Sai's hand finished the single-motion hand sign required for slamming his Genjutsu into his opponent's brain.

The next instant, a green spandex mass flew through the ground directly at him. Only the Root training gave Sai enough time to hastily move his face to the side and avoid the blow that would have otherwise knocked him out. The strength was palpable, sending ripples across the air and forcing Sai's neck hair up as the boy's eyes briefly widened in disbelief.

The next instant, Sai barely managed to unclasp the inkbottle. As soon as the tap was uncorked, the second hit broke through his left arm, twisting it as the Taijutsu enemy viciously grasped on the limb to execute an extremely fast set of punches to his guts.

Before the pain became blinding, Sai's ink infused with his chakra. He couldn't substitute, because the hold of the Genin was too strong for him to slip away. Therefore, Sai did the second best thing he could in his pain-riddled brain. He made the ink fly directly in the face of Rock Lee.

The boy loosened the hold and jumped backwards, just as Sai found himself on one knee breathing hard, as his only sane limb was now clutching his stomach. Mental images of internal bleeding and broken bones already coalesced. The question however remained —how had he avoided the Genjutsu?

"You unyouthful person, my anger is not to you!" the boy exclaimed as his hands went to remove the ink from his eyes. Sai fumbled with his sane hand to a red colored inkbottle, unclasping it. "Stand aside, for the fire of youth will avenge Tenten when I meet your teammate!"

"Will you kill him?" Sai asked calmly.

"Tenten will be avenged!" and as soon as the boy said that, Sai's hand stilled. He let the red inkbottle fall on the ground, before moving to grab a green one. "He will suffer for what he did! Damn you and your ink you unyouthful fellow! What is in this thing!?" Rock Lee exclaimed as he kept on trying to remove the ink from his eyes.

Sai didn't close in to attack, because he _was_ sure his opponent could still react. Furthermore, moving would probably worsen his internal bleeding.

"Then I can't let you do that," Sai whispered. "Your life…ends here."

The green bottle fell on the ground uncorked, and as its ink merged with the red one, it formed a dark brownish tint that naturally disappeared with the dirt of the arena. The boy finally cleansed his eyes and took up a fighting posture, before exclaiming.

"I will have mercy upon you, but I will not show the same towards your teammate!" and then Rock Lee charged through. "Tenten was my _teammate_! _She was my friend_!"

The moment the green spandex Genin charged, the brown ink rose in reaction in the form of spikes. Sai jumped backwards just as the boy's hands were about to clasp against his throat. Was he trying to crush his windpipe?

Even with his feet skewered, the boy still trudged on.

If anything, his speed had simply increased. "The youthful fire will win this battle! Yosh!"

The next hit slammed Sai on the ground before he could even _think_ about dodging. The second and the third brought him to lose consciousness…

And the fourth broke his other arm.

Rock Lee panted with exhaustion as he slowly removed himself from the fallen foe. The fires of youth burned brightly in him, as the sweet, sweetest sensation of all settled in him: that of his _perpetually burning_ muscles. It was a pain he had come to suffer from, and that he would suffer through the rest of his life. That pain, that continuous unending lingering pain was what made him immune to Genjutsu.

His sensei had told him it was the only way. He had trained harder than anyone else, done more than anyone else…and as long as he stood there, with his muscles enflamed and never calmed…he would be immune to what was truly debilitating for him.

Rock Lee was the fire of youth! He roared to the skies one last "YOSH!" because the alternative was to _scream_ from the utter unending pain.

His weights' barbed hooks, which pierced his skin to ensure he would keep on feeling the pain in any moment of his time wearing them could use some time cleaning…but he had a tournament to win. He'd care about infections later.

"Rock Lee is the winner! Medic-nins!" Kakashi's order came abruptly, as the medic Chuunin arrived to take care of the wounded.

From above the stands, Maito Gai remained quiet throughout the entire exchange. He had seen death enough times to feel anything from it, but he could not let Rock Lee's words affect him throughout the rest of his life. He disappeared in a flicker of leaves, only to dash his way towards the medic-nin who was treating Rock Lee in a half-darkened hallway.

The moment his student's eyes met his, tears began to stream down his face.

"Sen…Sensei!" Rock Lee bawled as he pounced in for a bone-crushing hug. "Ten…Tenten she was…she was killed…I have to…"

"Rock Lee," Maito Gai whispered softly. "That is not what Konoha is about. The Fires of Youth are not to be used for this bloody reason…to take a life, to claim one…it should be done with a true enemy. Surely, Tenten's death was unwanted and unwarranted…but you cannot stoop as low as her murderer…just win this tournament, avenge Tenten by sparing your opponent's life…and you will have shown him the wrongness of his way."

"Sensei," tears streaked down Rock Lee's face. "I…It _hurts_. It hurts more than…than the weights or the muscles…why her? Why Tenten? Couldn't it have been someone else? I…I was the one supposed to die first, right? Why am I still here? Neji was defeated. Tenten is dead…I…"

"Rock Lee," both of Maito Gai's hands clasped at the boy's shoulders. "Look at me!"

Dark eyes met dark eyes, as sensei and student looked at one another firmly.

"Do not let your fires be tainted by anger! Do not let blood boil over their flames! They are a mean for salvation, not one for destruction! Do you understand me!?"

"Y-Yosh, sensei!" Rock Lee exclaimed.

"I can't hear you!"

"YOSH, SENSEI!"

"_I can't hear you!"_

"_**YOSH, SENSEI!"**_ Rock Lee screamed loud enough to be heard even in the arena, just as Ryuzetsu of Takigakure surrendered after a brief bout of being apparently mind-controlled by the Otogakure's kunoichi Genjutsu skills.

By the time Rock Lee returned to the contestant box, it was just to watch the form of Ryuzetsu vanish out of the arena and that of the Otogakure Kunoichi to return to the box with a haughty smirk.

"Let us meet in glorious battle then, my enemy!" he exclaimed pointing his finger at the blond boy's back who was descending in the arena. "I will show you the mercy of the Fires of Youth!"

His cerulean eyes turned to look at him with a cold stare, as suddenly behind his back the evanescent figure of a giant nine-tailed fox appeared cast in an eerie crimson glow.

Rock Lee was the only one to see it, but the sadistic grin the fox illusion depicted…it was enough to make him swallow nervously as the boy's words finally reached his ears.

"_And I will butcher you into tiny morsels to feast upon."_

Kurotsuchi was not happy. Her grandfather's orders were…hypocrite, to say the least. He didn't want her to die, but at the same time was ready to sacrifice her for Iwagakure's future. Considering that without her there simply wasn't a future for Iwa —the infighting between the other clans over who should rule was getting stronger with the passing of time— then she simply had to survive.

She had fought Han a few times, of course only with glancing blows and going all out. She knew how Jinchuuriki battled: they had enormous reserves of chakra, nigh impenetrable cloaks made of their bijuu's energy and some special ability depending on what Bijuu they held.

The problem was that the Kyuubi's own abilities were unknown. Sure, it was renowned he could topple mountains and burn down forests…but it wasn't helpful. The Han's beast controlled steam, for he was the _rage_ that boiled over and tore through. Roshi's own Bijuu was a thing of silence and flames, of erupting volcanoes and _planned vengeance_. They both used fire, but it was never alone, and always in conjunction with the rest of their skills.

She supposed the Kyuubi was no different, but thankfully, Earth and Fire were things Iwagakure shinobi learned to fight against since birth —and all that without Suiton knowledge, which she still had.

The moment the proctor raised his right hand, her own hands already were in the process of moving for the first of the hand-signs.

"We meet again," the blond boy whispered with glee. His eyes were already turning crimson. "I'm going to enjoy this."

"In your dreams, loser," Kurotsuchi snapped back. The moment the hand of the proctor came down, she began the sign gestures one after the other with speed.

She had trained an entire month to master this —the only way she knew of to counter the insane speed the boy possessed.

An Earth Dome rose from the ground to entrap the boy, only it wasn't made of stone…but of jelly-like lime. Kurotsuchi grinned as she finished the hand gestures, before immediately adding a blazing fireball from her mouth to burn the highly inflammable material she had concocted through the usage of her triple mastery in Earth, Fire and Water release.

It was similar to the Quick-Lime…but with this the boy was supposed to stay down…also because she couldn't muster the chakra to try it again even if she had a need for it.

She breathed slowly as she watched the dome burn with everything within it. Maybe fighting fire with fire wasn't effective, but a constant heat over the chakra cloak of Han usually yielded the same result —unless he had lied when he had told her about the after-effects of a continuous usage of said Jinchuuriki skill.

"Well?" the voice startled her.

"Oh, let us burn him to ashes," the voice continued. "Like it's going to work. You know, if you really want to _burn_ someone…you should be sure you are really _aiming_ at him."

She knew the voice came from behind her. She tried to claw her way in the ground, but before she could even managed to merge more than her ankles, he grabbed her with his giant claw-like chakra appendage, pulling her out and throwing her in mid-air.

"And to ensure it burns good and steady," the voice continued. "You should make double sure it can't dodge…like when in mid-air."

She spun around in the air long enough to see the boy smile at her, before his chakra-like fox face opened its mouth to roar and unleash a stream of crimson fire in her direction.

She went through hand-signs faster than ever, generating a strong stream of water that slammed against the upcoming fire stream. The momentum swung her away from the Jinchuuriki, forcing her feet to land on the sidewalls of the arena. She took a single deep breath, before narrowing her eyes.

He was toying with her. She was going to show him what it meant. She had spent a month trying to come up with ways of defeating him and him alone.

She wasn't going down without a fight.

Naruto's eyes flickered with amusement over that pathetic example of determination. He could hear her breathing steady. Had she another plan? The shining examples of death and murder that were shinobi and kunoichi always made him smile. In the end, wasn't he their supreme aspiration? They all wanted to fight and kill, to become better at fighting and killing…so who was he to be any less?

He chuckled as he watched her extract a bundle filled with steel wire and caltrops. Was she really expecting those to work?

He felt a tug in the back of his brain and snarled. Was it that difficult to understand? He was showing the world _who_ was the weapon of Konoha. He was showing them that the enemy deserved no mercy. He was their weapon, and they had to fear him and respect him.

Fear and power ruled more men than smiles and mercy.

_Stop this!_

He shook his head. _Enough!_

"_Shut up!" _he snarled to himself as he decided to end this, before someone else got some strange ideas out of it. The Kyuubi was more a friend to him than to the 'real' Naruto…albeit, was he actually real? No, he was just another side of him. There wasn't a real Naruto. They both were…and he was the strongest and the most fit for this duty, and thus he was the one in charge.

The sewer-like mind of Naruto was starting to fill once more with torn limbs and blood, as the boy himself was fighting them off with a kunai.

He ducked and rolled to avoid skeletal-like appendages firing their bone fingers, parrying with his kunai when a humongous amount of rotten flesh slammed against him and sent him to crash against the stone wall.

Naruto jumped in mid-air, his feet attaching themselves to an overhanging pipe as he growled at the mass of putrefying limbs.

"Hatred, malice, cruelty, malevolence…all words to define the same core sentiment," the Kyuubi intoned from his cage. "Do you not find it funny, Naruto? So many words for the simple action of…_hating one another_?"

"Can't you help!?"

"And why would I?" the Kyuubi remarked. "This is you! The rotting flesh, the despair…the hatred and the revenge…you'd make my brother proud! Such misery and such loath-filled intents…they are majestic to watch!"

"But it isn't me!" he replied as he jumped away from an incoming giant limb, who tore the pipe apart and sprayed scathing water everywhere.

"_**IT IS YOU! EVERYTHING HERE IS YOU**_!" the Kyuubi roared in laughter. "From the hanging pipes to the water! From the sewer to the rotten limbs! All that is here is yours! Maybe not yours to command…but undoubtedly, it is yours!"

Naruto gritted his teeth as he twisted in mid-air, bringing down his Tanto and cutting through a small mass of limbs. He landed once more in the water, using chakra to remain on balance.

"Bring me your blood!" a voice snarled from the depths of the sewer's corridors. "I will feast upon your entrails!"

"N-Naruto?"

"Better make him forget…it wouldn't do."

Naruto's eyes widened briefly, as a rotten hand pierced through his stomach and passed straight through.

"No distractions, Naruto!" the Kyuubi remarked. "Fight till you drop tired and deceased, beneath the gaze of the cursed eye of the Uchiha!"

"No Uchiha used that eye on me!" Naruto screamed back with blood in his mouth, as he ran backwards to avoid a geyser of blood and broken bones that would have skewered him alive. "This is all your own doing!"

"_**PATHETIC MORTAL!**_" the Kyuubi's roar burst through with a powerful gale that washed away the rot and the malice from the water for but a single instant. "_**I AM THE REASON YOU HAVE NOT DROWNED IN YOUR SORROW BEFORE!**_" his tails crashed against the gates. "And this seal is the reason I have let you live! I can be born again, time and time again! I am immortal, a god, unbound by all but death itself! So remember my words, you avoid this misery because of I! Not because you hold some sort of power…but to the cursed eye, I have to bow for that much I declared openly to whom once I considered my friend! I would have squashed it beforehand otherwise!" the Kyuubi growled as the rot began to form again through the walls, making a few slowly tear themselves apart as holes and sick looking flowers began to sprout.

"Do you think yourself happy, Naruto? Happiness is so much overrated," the Kyuubi replied. "There is no such thing as a man without sorrow, as a living being without hatred…and yours…yours has always existed deeply rooted within you! The loneliness of being alone, that misery morphed in blood curling vengeance! Look around, this rot, this stench…_it is yours_! Not mine, _yours_! The eye brought it out…but it was never mine to begin with!" and the Kyuubi laughed wickedly. "Tear apart the seal and I will deal with it personally…or leave the seal be and suffer for as long as the cursed eye stands…can you dare blind an eye you know nothing of? Can you dare look into the malice of the world and come out unscathed?"

Naruto shuddered, as his breathing grew ragged. He held to his wound that wasn't real but felt like it, he wielded weapons he hadn't possessed but had called to the front in his moment of need. He was in his mind…but would that be enough?

"How!?" he screamed back.

"There is one last fail-safe," the Kyuubi replied smugly. "One single last step before my freedom, one last line of ink written on a scrap of parchment attached to the seal by your mother, in her last moments of sanity. It belonged to her seal, and now it belongs to yours too…it is the piece I loathe the most, the one I desire shattered and burned…destroyed forever. Do it, open the gate once more…face your ancestor, face her guilt and her sins…and that will suffice…if you're still in time of course…"

"Don't listen to him!" a voice echoed. "Never listen to the Kyuubi, N—"

"SHUT. UP!" Kurama roared. "You have done your part in these sins! Look at the misery wrought upon the boy because of your choice! In the end, you and you alone are the true culprit! You discovered how to seal us, and you sealed us to ensure a peace that could not last without us! What we did freely and unchecked you forced upon us with shackles made of ink! So what if millions will die upon our release!? So what if billions will forever hold the day of my freedom to their memories as a day of horror and ghastly death!? _What needs to be done must be done!_"

The Kyuubi smirked. "Isn't that what it means, to be a shinobi? _To endure for the sake of the many_? Tell me, Naruto…does the world count as 'many' if the ones who have to endure are just a few villages?"

Naruto watched the seal. It was so far away it wasn't even funny. How had he managed to distance himself so much? It wasn't possible, was it?

"Don't trust him!" the voice, female, shot again. "Go back! Go away! He's diverting your attention from—"

"I said to be silent!"

"Naruto?" the voice…he remembered the voice.

Wasn't it…

Teuchi's?

"Hey Teuchi-san!" it was…his voice, younger, cheerful…

"You should listen to me, Naruto," the Kyuubi's voice burst forth in the midst of his eavesdropping on something happening further down the sewer's halls. "Last time you didn't…you paid the price."

"You shouldn't be out this late at night, Naruto." Teuchi's voice was speaking softly.

"Mah, I'm just…well…I went to buy paint, yeah, dattebayo!"

"No making pranks?"

Naruto's eyes shone with recognition. Hadn't that been the day…

"Naruto! Watch out!"

"Y-You…" there was a low growl in his voice. "You will pay for this."

"N-Naruto?"

And the sound of broken bones echoed soon afterwards…

"I…I did this?" his voice was verging on the despair when he heard it again. Even the rotting limbs had stilled, waiting as if ready to attack him.

"No…Teuchi-san? Teuchi-san? Answer me...please...please answer me..."

His brain pulsed in pain.

How had he seen Teuchi die with a snapped neck, if he hadn't even opened the can of paint?

No, he had opened it.

No, he hadn't.

He had.

He had not.

He _had_.

"Y-You," he choked out, his eyes teary as he looked at the Kyuubi's form who merely smirked and swished his tails. "It was _you_."

"I am and will always be bound," the Kyuubi remarked calmly. "But when malice…hatred is rampant…when evil lurks beneath the surface…I can emerge slightly." The fox chuckled. "I could have saved the man you loved like a father, but would that have changed anything? No. You would have gone on believing the world a good place, a fun place…maybe you would have ended up believing we could be _friends_…" the Kyuubi snorted.

"We will never be friends, Naruto. I have a duty to uphold, one older than the world itself. You…you are a speckle of dust, lost in the countless eras of time I have…I will be whole again, Naruto," the Kyuubi whispered. "My brethren will be one and together we will rise to what the sage wished for us to be! We will become a new form, a new being!"

"You tricked me!" he screamed back.

"I am the Nine-Tailed fox!" the Kyuubi roared back with glee. "And you…you are just a mere mortal," Kurama remarked calmly. "Would you condemn the entire world for your selfishness? Of course you would, I forgot! You sacrificed Ino Yamanaka for your happiness! You sacrificed your own sensei for your own beliefs! You sacrificed everyone around you to keep my voice, my whispers a secret…and those who died when you did not heed my words? The tally is rising, Naruto…and it will only rise further! If I have to work alongside that accursed eye to make you see the evil _**YOU ARE BRINGING**_, then so be it!"

And as one, the rotten flesh manifested as a mockery of the Ichibi itself. The halls of the sewer enlarged and cracked, as if there was a strain to withhold such a power, such strength.

"What," the Kyuubi snickered. "You thought the Ichibi's power could be held behind the seal? No…I was waiting for this moment, Naruto," he laughed as sand covered the landscape. "I was waiting for this instant where, in public, you will unleash me against the unsuspecting masses! _**LET WAR RAVAGE THE LAND**_! Let death…let it be my revival."

Naruto's right hand clenched in a fist, as the boy's eyes settled on the shambling corpse of the Ichibi. "Why do this to your brother?"

"My brother is no longer among the living," Kurama replied. "He sacrificed his own soul to me. What I did…I devoured his soul. Do you know what it means, mortal?" the fox's crimson orbs settled on him. "I erased him from the cycle of rebirth, I erased him from the chance for heaven or hell. I removed him from the fabric of existence…he will never be born again, he will never be at peace. Forever, he will suffer within myself and be merged with myself in the end…and you know what?" the fox chuckled. "He chose that fate, rather than remain in the land of the living, in your land…because he felt the wind change…he felt a misery larger than before ready to come crashing down! You are doomed, Naruto Uzumaki. May you be the last of your accursed clan to ever be able to hold me, and may you never be reborn upon this rotten world!"

The Ichibi's corpse roared as sand hands dashed forward to grasp at Naruto. "And now, Naruto Uzumaki…"

The Fox's own mouth opened as a streak of fire crashed through the gate itself, to meld with the sand and form shards of glass that floated within the Ichibi's sand.

"_It is time to die_."

Outside, Naruto Uzumaki's body was in a foul feeling chakra of a black color, with four tails moving furiously in the air. A light sprinkle of sand had begun to rise and surround his body, as his face morphed into a mock laugh. He pointed his clawed hand towards Kurotsuchi, who was now holding two parchments, one per hand.

The Iwagakure Kunoichi breathed out slowly…and then she jumped down with speed. Chakra enhanced her muscles as she unclasped both scrolls at the same time.

"Let's see you survive this!" Kurotsuchi roared, as the twin scrolls detonated and released in the air both sand and thin metallic fragments. The girl's mouth was soon rounded and filled, before she emptied a molten stream of magma straight through the particle cloud. The detonation that ensued soon followed with more, each of varying intensity and form as Kurotsuchi herself insisted upon reigniting every now and then the cloud of dust.

Kakashi had taken refuge up on the stands, as the explosions of magma and the shrapnel finally winded down. Kurotsuchi was panting and breathing hard, but she still wasn't down. Sweat descended her brow, and her pink eyes narrowed to try to gleam at the figure of the Jinchuuriki.

When the dust settled, the Jinchuuriki was no longer there.

She exhaled and in that moment, four tails slammed into her stomach.

She expected chakra to be a soft surface.

She was _wrong_.

Her back crashed against the wall of the arena with an unsettling amount of force, as the body armor she wore literally snapped and creaked from the pressure. She felt her bones pulverize and blood pool in her mouth as her eyes began to cloud. The demonic figure was standing there, where she had been before…she blinked, and he was suddenly face to face with her.

Seen from close, the face was horrendous.

She narrowed her eyes with what little effort she had, and then…then she spat out on the face of the Jinchuuriki. The saliva simply fizzled away upon his skin, and just as he was about to bite down on her _throat_…

He _stilled_.

"You are outmatched, outsmarted, outnumbered," the Kyuubi droned out calmly, "Surrender and it will be quick and painless."

"Were you ever straight with me!? Were your words true in the end!?"

"I never lied," the Kyuubi replied calmly. "I am not lying now. Your own self-preservation instinct is stronger than the will to benefit your entire race, isn't that quite the definition of selfishness? Are you a selfish boy, Naruto-kun?" the fox winked once, snickering as spears of glass burst into fragments tearing through Naruto's guard and making the boy bleed.

"Selfishness is bad, and bad boys need to be punished," Kurama added. "You know, I never understood you humans. Why can you be so _stupid_? The world doesn't revolve around you! You don't even have a _soul_! You coined that term to define something you don't possess! The spark of intelligence isn't something all mythical or mystical! Heck, it's just the _sapience_. The ability to think doesn't make you _superior_ to others…just _different_. You are different from a dog, you aren't superior to him! You really can't declare a fish useless because he can't climb a tree now, _can you_?"

There was a moment of silence as Naruto stilled and croaked back.

"So what…I should just die? Lay down and let you kill me? Why would I do that?"

"Because the good of the many outweigh the good of the few, it's logical." The Kyuubi nodded. "And, let me tell you this…_you've already lost_. Do you think they'll let you die of old age? You'll be used up and then the beast will be extracted into a new host, a younger one…a _better_ one."

And it was then that Naruto's eyes widened a fraction.

"Wait," he mumbled. The next instant…the kunai was at his throat.

The attacks ceased in that precise split-second.

The Kyuubi actually growled with hatred that made Naruto's knees get weak.

"So…so that's how it is," Naruto breathed hard. "It's not about killing me. It's about…what, absorbing me? Getting me to remove the seal in an offer of peace? You really don't want to die and be reborn…do you?"

"The process has been wasted long enough. The time it would take for me to return…the weakened state, the world cannot afford that," the Kyuubi spoke calmly. "And let's face it, Naruto…you can't win."

"No," he whispered. "You're right…but I can damn well stall for time, can I?"

"Are you sure about that?" the Kyuubi remarked with a smirk. "Very well…"

The Ichibi-corpse disappeared, as well as the rest of the rotten limbs or the shards of glass…with a powerful bark and a roar, the eye of the Mangekyou Sharingan was shattered to little pieces as Naruto's surroundings returned to the real world.

His face gazed at the pink eyes of Kurotsuchi, who was standing on the ground with blood dribbling down her mouth.

"Never…fuck with my team again," he whispered hoarsely, as he staggered back up from his slightly prone position.

"Eventually, Naruto…" the Kyuubi whispered to his ear, "I will force you to open the seal…I will just have to change my means then."

"You're a bastard," Naruto hissed back as Kakashi declared him the winner. "And you _lied_."

"Ah, I never said I couldn't…" the Kyuubi chuckled. "I said I would not."

"So why should I trust you again?"

"You tasted my powers for long enough, Naruto," Kurama replied. "Do you think that once you have tasted the nectar of my chakra, you can live without? Let's see how long you will fare, before you plead for my help this time…"

"And what if I'm about to die?"

"When that happens…" the Kyuubi hissed, "I will claim your weakened mind for myself."

And to that…Naruto shuddered, because in the back of his mind he could feel the looming presence of the Ichibi's own strength…and that power, that strength…it was not sealed inside the Kyuubi.

"Next match, Rock Lee against Tayuya from Otogakure!"

In the drowning sound of the crowd's applause —probably because now Rock Lee was the hero, and he the enemy— Naruto couldn't help but feel bitter as he was hastily dismissed by the medic-nin. He was about to enter the contestant's box, when his sensei's form appeared quickly in a flicker.

"Naruto!" her voice was actually stressed as she spoke, forcing Naruto to tense and still.

"Sen…sei?"

"Sakura…" her voice trailed off for a moment.

"What about her?"

His sensei seemed conflicted, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked like she was fighting an inner demon of her own…

"She's…ah…" Yugao exhaled slowly. "She's going to stay at the hospital a bit more," the woman finally replied. "But she'll be fine."

"Ah," he smiled back at his sensei. "At least…something good, right?"

"Yeah," the Anbu schooled her features. "At least."

Yugao watched her student leave for the contestant's box, and clenched her right hand only _after_ he had left.

How could he tell him, after all…that Sakura Haruno had been found having _bitten_ and _clawed to death_ her very own parents?

She was going to make Anko pay for this.

Even if it was the last thing she did, even if she had to face execution because of it…

She was going to make her pay…

Or she would die trying.

**Author's notes**

**This chapter is more about two battles (three battles) and a bit of something **_**something**_**. **

**Naruto's so selfish, isn't he?**

**And yes, the Kyuubi outsmarted the seal by absorbing the Ichibi, and Naruto outsmarted the Kyuubi by understanding he was under a time-frame.**

**A time-frame for what?**

**Now that's a **_**good**_** question.**


	31. The Fourth is the Climax to the End

Introverted

Chapter Thirty-One

Shimura Danzo watched dispassionately the match going on. He had frowned at the sight of Naruto not delivering the finishing blow to the Iwagakure kunoichi, but maybe his command had been a bit lax. He had told the boy to show no mercy and to be the weapon of Konoha…maybe he should have added to kill all his opponents, rather than ruthlessly show them his strength.

Still, maybe he believed he could better serve Konoha without starting a war. He had hoped his little speech on leaving no quarters would have worked…but there was still time.

He watched with ill-concealed amusement as the flute-using Genjutsu Kunoichi of Otogakure lost after the second blow from Maito Gai's disciple. He smirked as he looked at the crowd's murmurs. As long as the civilians hated Naruto but the shinobi did not…he'd have to go between his fellows in arms to find solace. It would subtly develop him into a more militaristic mindset, even without his full-out intervention.

His face schooled itself back to stone however, the moment he watched a few Anbu appear in the same booth as the Hokage and murmur to him something…which then made Hiruzen's eyes narrow on _him_.

He feigned ignorance, even as he realized the Sandaime had called for five minutes of pause before the start of the next match.

It didn't take him much to stand up and disappear from his corner, only to casually cross with the Hokage near the bathrooms. The Anbu that surrounded them just seemed to decide to go _elsewhere_, leaving the two old friends to stare at one another.

"I don't know what game you are playing, Danzo," Hiruzen hissed. "But it ends _now_, understood?"

"You will have to be more specific, Hiruzen."

"It was well done, I admit it, but the corpses were dead _before_ the claw and bite marks settled in…and the girl's body had a mild exciter in her bloodstream. So, care to tell me why you thought harmfully setting back one of Naruto's teammates would benefit Konoha?"

"I am ignorant of such a ploy."

"And I am not an imbecile!" the hiss came out extremely heated, especially when Hiruzen's right hand shot up in a curled fist making Danzo's back hair rise slightly. "I know this is _your_ work. These power shows of Naruto? You told him to act like that —don't think I haven't understood it." There was a light snarl. "And don't think I'm going to let him anywhere close to you again. He'll be moving to a Chuunin-apartment, next to his teammates."

"He refused Jiraiya's offer of apprenticeship, Hiruzen," Danzo remarked. "Who are you going to entrust him to?"

"Oh, that problem is taken care of," the Sandaime said. "And it's not about _him_, but _his team_. You wish to make him a lone Anbu operative, as you did with Itachi…but _you will fail_. I will guarantee you that, even if I have to use every single old bone in my body, I will make sure you fail."

Danzo's lone eye narrowed. "Hiruzen, you are not…"

"I am," the Hokage remarked. "I do not know when you managed to get Root in Anbu, but that's the problem with secretive organizations: when they're breached, nobody knows."

"You'd let them in a public Chuunin team? Are you mad? They wouldn't last in the Chuunin corps! You _cannot_ send the _Jinchuuriki_ of Konoha in the public corps!"

"You see Danzo," Hiruzen whispered. "This is where we differ. You always saw the weapon to be oiled and primed…I, at least, see the shinobi as people." He shook his head. "Which is why Tobirama-sensei should have chosen you, and why at the same time I am _glad_ he did not."

"Believe in your light all you want, Hiruzen," Danzo replied. "I will tend to the Darkness, as I have always done."

"Playing with words now, are we?"

"Don't we always?"

"The final match of the tournament is about to begin! All spectators, return to your seats!" and as soon as the voice rang out, both Hiruzen and Danzo disappeared in a flicker at the same time.

Deep within the confines of the Root headquarters, Sasuke headed towards the infirmary. The rest of his team was watching the matches in the arena through the television in the dining hall of this 'secret base', together with the Kusagakure shinobi. There was practically no one, as the majority of 'guards' had been assigned to patrol the tournament's proceedings.

The door slid open without a sound, just in time for him to see Kabuto Yakushi ready to leave for somewhere. "Oh, Sasuke-kun?" Kabuto said surprised, "What's the matter? Were you…wounded battling Shiore-san?"

"No," he replied calmly, a slight twitch in his right eye betraying some form of discomfort. "They are all watching the tournament…and I thought about your offer."

How could he not, when he had seen just what powers Naruto wielded? He had been the second best…and yet now, clearly, he wasn't only the first: to Sasuke's eyes…he could very well be _stronger_ than Itachi.

"Oh?" Kabuto replied raising both eyebrows. "And what of it?"

"I'll accept it."

"Splendid," Kabuto smiled as he suddenly dropped his backpack. "It doesn't take much," he replied moving towards one of the drawers. "Just lay down on the bed and I'll take care of it."

Sasuke nodded, taking his position on the nursery's bed and laying down. Kabuto moved closer with a simple needle, "I'll give you a mild sedative," he added. "No need to make it painful if we can avoid it."

"Wasn't it potentially fatal?" Sasuke frowned. "Shouldn't you be…telling someone?"

"I lied about that bit," Kabuto replied with a small smile. "Wouldn't want you to go in this half-assed after all…with power must come determination, otherwise it's not worthy of being called power, is it?"

Sasuke exhaled slowly. Well, there went one of his last 'against' arguments. The Chuunin hadn't lied to him for anything less than what he'd expect, and really, who would let a Chuunin offer a possibly lethal solution to a Genin to become stronger? Of course, the Hokage would say no to that. He had been so stupid to believe otherwise.

"Can you activate the sharingan, Sasuke-kun? The enhancement requires chakra to be given to the eyes…to power them."

He flinched for a moment, and when he looked up again, his sharingan was active. In that moment, the Chuunin struck with the syringe. The needle pierced his skin and the liquid entered his bloodstream. His body felt…stiff. Kabuto Yakushi sighed before calmly remarking, as he took out a pair of tweezers.

"Tomoe of both eyes half-matured…it could be better, but it will have to do," he smiled gently to Sasuke-kun then, and that smile…that would be the last thing Sasuke would forever remember burned to his memory, as without anesthetic, but fully awake and feeling the pain…

_The Chuunin ripped out both his eyes from their sockets_.

"I'll also take a few more samples," the Chuunin's voice came through the fog and the haze of pain that coursed through Sasuke's entire body. "Now, don't worry Sasuke-kun…it will be over soon. You know, how about I turn on the radio, so you can hear about who is going to win the tournament?"

No, this was a nightmare. He was going to wake up. The man hadn't just taken his sharingan eyes. The man had told him they were similar! He had told him they both shared their ideal of revenge!

"Now, now, no use trying to fight off the poison…it will go away naturally, in a few hours."

A heartbeat of silence soon followed.

"I'll be already out of the village by then…as the escort of the _Otogakure_ team leaving."

The noise of the radio soon muzzled out the next words, as the five minutes of pause soon finished.

In the arena, beneath the sun that had reached its apex, two Genin looked at one another across a field that held Kakashi Hatake in the middle, ready to declare the start of the last match.

"Honorable proctor!" Rock Lee exclaimed, "A moment if you please, I have a question to ask my opponent before we begin!"

"Mah…fine," Kakashi sighed. He was undecided between finding out what was going on with the numerous Anbu circling the arena, moving around like headless chickens, and taking out _Icha Icha Violence Fetish_.

"Unyouthful beast!" Rock Lee began pointing his finger at Naruto. "My name is Rock Lee, the student of the Youthful Green Beast of Konoha!" he roared. "Today I will defeat you, but I have to ask you this: why did you kill my teammate!? What reason brought you to do this? What could my teammate have done to warrant your hate, that your next opponent did not!?"

Naruto breathed deeply as his cold eyes settled on the boy who was still slightly sweaty from the battle he had barely finished before.

"I had a change of heart," he tried weakly.

A chorus of 'buhs' and whistles rang through the crowd in the arena.

"Do not deceive me with those words!" Rock Lee yelled back, earning himself applause from the same people in the stands. "What did my teammate do to you!?"

Naruto _had_ to breathe again. "Nothing," he replied then steeling himself. "I didn't even know her _name_ before we were paired for the battle. I held no hatred, no contempt and no anger against her strong enough to warrant me _killing_ her."

"So why?" Rock Lee's voice was a whisper as he asked, but it suddenly grew both heated and angered. "_**WHY DID YOU KILL HER!?**_"

"Because," Naruto remarked. "They made me do it." His finger…pointed towards the crowd of Konoha. Hushed silence fell in the arena ground, as everyone tried to strain their necks from their seats to manage to hear the contestant speak. Naruto chuckled bitterly. "Funny, isn't it? You want the real culprit? Look at the guys applauding you, the people who cheer for you and are so prone to insult me and call me demon. Ask them what they did to me, and you will have your answer. They believe themselves so _special_, so…_human_…you know what is funny? The Kyuubi's probably more human than half the people in Konoha. I know his hatred is motivated by at least a good chunk of things _I can understand_."

He laughed. "You realize your life is truly fucked when you can sympathize with demons, you know!? You want to know the true power of the Kyuubi? _**I AM MALICE**_." He screamed, taking a step forward.

"And it fucking _hurts_, because it's _right _and it's_ everywhere!_ You know your teammate? The dark side of me, the part that they," he pointed at the crowd, "That they brought forth with _**THEIR**_ actions, _that_ is who killed her! You ask _why_, I answer with another question: why would _they_ act as if I was a demon from birth? I mean…one must really be fucked up in their mind to think something like that, right? Maybe they were afraid! Yeah, right! I used that excuse first. Maybe I did something bad for simply being born! That too went out of the gutter. _**I AM THE JINCHUURIKI OF THE KYUUBI! **_Is it enough to call oneself a monster? Apparently, for them, it is!"

Naruto laughed, he laughed so hard he had to hold his sides before starting to cough up. "And guess what…even now," he choked out, "Even now he _whispers_...but he can't see me dead. He cannot, because if I go, he goes too…_and the world burns_. Fucked up, huh? Delusional, pathetic…but those are his words!"

He snarled, swiping his right arm in front of him. "And he'll live with the fact that you will not listen to them," Naruto added then quietly. "But it doesn't matter," his eyes narrowed as he hovered his hand to his Tanto. "Because I'll force those words down your ears, as I slice you apart for harming my teammate."

"You're delusional," Rock Lee whispered. "_**YOSH**_! There is no choice then! _**I WILL DEFEAT YOU, THEN!**_"

Kakashi swallowed hard. He had probably been the only one to hear the two boys speak, except for the parts they had screamed. Naruto was probably losing it because of the stress. He didn't know if the Kages up in the booth had such a finely tuned earing, but if they did…

The crowd had probably settled only for the screamed bits. Their general humor was of hate for Naruto and acceptance for the 'Hero' of the tale.

Kakashi raised his right hand.

The moment it came down, Rock Lee's hands went down to his legs as he began to scream.

Naruto's own body charged ahead, but in the precise moment his Yoroi Tanto was about to close in on Rock Lee's neck… _the boy disappeared from sight_.

Two heavy whistling noises forced Naruto to get down, immediately avoiding two heavy weights that crashed against the ground —had they hit, they would have lopped his head off cleanly. The boy was planning to _murder_ him…all bets were off: he'd do _the_ _very same thing_.

It wasn't about being the dark side or the light side anymore…it was about having something called personal justice. So what if Konoha would hate him, starting the next day? When had it been different? He didn't want to settle this with death…but there was no other way. He knew the gaze the other boy had. It was that 'I'm sorry I didn't actually mean to be that much mean to you' one. He'd be dead and then the boy would cry and someone would give him a pat on the shoulder, telling him everything was _fine_.

'It was just the demon-boy' they'd say, or some sort of shit like that…Maybe they'd even give him a medal.

The weights had barbed hooks on one side, and tiny bits of flesh and reddish things attached to them…

_Was that how he avoided Genjutsu?_

The moment the _thought_ was done, he flew in mid-air by a powerful kick to the back of his spine. His breathing cut short, as he could suddenly feel Rock Lee's presence behind him. White wrappings tried to bind themselves to his hands, and in that instant…he pulsed chakra through the bundles in his jacket.

He had come prepared to fight on his own terms, after all.

Barbed wire unfolded in an explosive pattern, literally placing itself as a thorny cushion between Rock Lee's technique and Naruto's body. There wasn't the pain he needed, but the surprise was enough for Naruto to pull himself out of the technique and leave a Bunshin in its place.

Rock Lee's hands firmly grasped at the bunshin, tearing it apart in an instant.

Naruto's own body propelled the Jinchuuriki out and against the corner of arena, where his back slammed painfully against the wall. It was on instinct and nothing more that Naruto side-rolled to the right. That was how he avoided a hole the size of a watermelon on his chest, because the wall of the arena held a fist-shaped crack where the green blur that was Rock Lee attacked next.

Naruto grabbed the steel wire he had, and unbundled it all. He didn't actually have a plan, but if he just had enough time to think.

_If the enemy has an advantage, take it away first._

Speed. Strength. Taijutsu only.

His legs are bleeding…duck!

Naruto's body pressed against the ground as a roundabout kick nearly crushed his shoulders, instead passing harmlessly above his head.

_Take time. Talk._

"What's the youth shit about!?" Naruto screamed then, jumping back as Rock Lee apparently _stopped_ to answer.

"You foul unyouthful demon! Do not talk ill of the Fires of Youth! YOSH!"

"What's that shit about anyway!?" he snapped back as he caught his breath. He had a bundle of wire laying on the ground in a corner, just as in another the barbed wire was pretty much in the same position. He had two giant tumbleweeds of steel…_how could he use them_?

_Quantity over Quality_.

"It's about—"

Nine thousand Bunshins materialized within the arena's floor and walls.

Not one hundred, not two thousand, but nine thousand bunshins materialized around the entire arena on every available spot.

Rock Lee's eyes widened as he watched Naruto-clones in front of him smirk.

"_**YOU UNYOUTHFUL PERSON**_! You tricked me!"

"I'm a shinobi, that's my job description," Naruto remarked. Rock Lee got on his guard, as he felt movement close to him, even if he couldn't pinpoint it. He breathed slowly, before starting to move his hands in a sort of semi-sphere pattern in front of him.

"The flames of Youth will find you anyway, unyouthful demon!"

Up above, in the Kage stands, the Nibi Jinchuuriki actually smirked.

"Isn't it against the rules to leave the arena?"

"Technically he hasn't," the Otogakure Kage replied. "Unless we want to be nitpicky, of course…"

"Well, to look underneath the underneath is supposed to be a shinobi prerequisite," Hiruzen said. "I wonder what they said to one another, to make Naruto so angry."

"His name is Naruto?" the question asked by the Takigakure female bodyguard had Suien actually groan lightly. "Is he good to eat?"

Oonoki snickered. "Sure he is. I bet he's really crunchy too."

"No," Suien added hastily. "He is not good to eat," he remarked calmly. "And you will not try and eat him, Fuu."

"All right," the girl nodded dejectedly.

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, but the Takigakure Kage simply returned a disarmed expression. He'd answer the question in private later on, if pressed.

"Why are your Anbu moving around like chickens, Sandaime?" the Tsuchikage quipped pointing at a few masked nin moving across the roof of the arena.

"They are simply patrolling the premises," Hiruzen replied.

It was then, that the nine thousand Bunshins disappeared. The arena looked completely deserted, without even a trace of Naruto…or of the bundles of wire.

"How does he plan to use them?" Oonoki's voice cut off, especially when Yugito's nose twitched slightly.

"That's…quite a bit of chakra," Yugito whispered.

"And the Genin down there can't feel it?" the Otogakure Kage replied in disbelief. "How did he manage to make the cut for the shinobi force?"

The air was thick and laden with a strange pressure that Rock Lee had never felt before. He heard the ground tremble slightly, but then…then everything seemed to still as the wind itself stopped blowing around him.

There was a light shimmer of something blue around him. That shimmer just…it became thicker as…was that the sound of flying shurikens?

Rock Lee tried to jump backwards, only for the ground to finally crack and cave in beneath his feet. In that precise instant, Naruto rose upwards holding within his right palm a tornado-like creation made of pure unbridled chakra.

It twisted savagely, as from way above Rock Lee's head hundreds of kunai and shurikens fell down as if the skies had decided to weep metal.

The chakra of the hurricane expanded beyond what a normal shinobi could hope to contain, as it completely engulfed the falling Rock Lee and the assorted weaponry.

Naruto yelled out a single word as he roared to the skies his triumph.

"_**NARUTO UZUMAKI**__!"_

Rock Lee knew pain. He knew the feeling of his body burning up. He knew the pain that came from overexerting or from the weights carving in his skin. He knew the feeling of having his legs disinfected or of welts opening up. Yet he wasn't prepared when the entire armament that Naruto held on him fell down and began to circle around him, lifted by the chakra of the boy himself.

A normal human would have died from chakra exhaustion before even _creating_ such a technique.

What happened instead…was _**pain**_.

The shurikens flew and tore like the blades of a grinder on a turbo streak. The kunai's tips pierced with terminal velocity at his body, just as the barbed and steel wires fell down and begun to spin wildly around him, lashing at his skin and latching on… to engulf him in a tomb of iron.

Blood sprayed from the open wounds as the centrifugal force of the hurricane, of the maelstrom…of the whirlpool technique lashed and tore through his skin. In the next moment, the chakra intensive technique finished. Rock Lee looked as if he had gone through a grinder, his green spandex suit in tatters as he fell seemingly lifelessly in the center of the crater. Naruto's own back went to drop against the rock surface of the crater's side, as the blond haired boy took in deep breaths to calm his beating heart.

The crowd's stunned silence, soon followed by boos and whistles told him all that he needed to know. He had won. He slowly stood, turning to give his back on the fallen form of his enemy to start the climb up…when he heard a soft murmur reach him.

"First…Gate," the murmur seemed to die down. "_Open_."

Naruto jumped out of the crater with the strength that adrenaline gave, as the wounded Rock Lee was hot on his tails, his entire body muscled and with the blank of his pupils showing clearly. "This is...for Tenten...I will..._avenge_ her...Second Gate…_open_," Rock Lee's scream forced the audience to start cheering at the return of their 'champion'.

Naruto snarled. He was actually _low_ on chakra, for once.

"Someone needs a hand?" the Kyuubi mocked from his ear.

"No," Naruto replied. "I don't."

All he got back was a derisive snort…and nothing more.

"**DIE, DEMON! ****THIRD GATE, OPEN!**" Naruto took a step backwards, and the audience just cheered stronger. In that moment, Rock Lee charged ahead foaming from his mouth.

_The first movement of any dagger is to stab forward_.

_A blade either stabs or slashes._

_A punch is to the face first, for it is the weakest point in the human body._

Rock Lee's charge stopped as the Yoroi Tanto tore through his entire protruding arm.

Naruto's body twisted from the strength of the impact, as he ended up flying to the side having hastily brought up the Tanto Danzo had gifted him to protect his face after enhancing it with whatever chakra he could muster.

Rock Lee's right hand split neatly in hand, even as the boy still kept on charging, this time with his left hand forward…before sending a powerful kick to Naruto's still recuperating body. The blond shinobi flew in the air once more, as blood kept on falling from the open wounds.

He didn't feel pain.

That wasn't going to end up well.

He brought up his arms in a cross guard, hoping to weather the storm.

The storm didn't sound at all weathered, if the cracking and the snapping were of any indication. He had used up all his tricks. He had fought with everything he had. He had fought against someone who was literally charging ahead in a suicide attack and was cornering him…and he _didn't want to die_.

As his guard came down from the pain, and Rock Lee's left fist came forth to smash his face to a bloody pulp…

A wall of _sand and blood_ stopped the blow from even forming.

Naruto winced as he ended up falling on the ground gently carried by a light platform of sand. He exhaled slowly. What was that about?

The sand…wasn't it…the Ichibi's?

"I knew that thing didn't belong to my brother!" the Kyuubi snarled out angrily. "It belonged to the boy!"

He wasn't going to question the Kyuubi's anger. He was just glad his face hadn't turned to some sort of poultice.

Whatever technique the spandex wearing boy had used…it fell short as soon as he touched the ground, sending him to stumble, wobble for a bit, and then crash down hard.

Naruto slowly breathed in the crisp hot air of the midday sun. What had seemed like hours had been but minutes, and as the adrenaline and the tension wore off, he couldn't help but start to giggle.

His giggle soon turned into a full-out bout of laughter as his voice resonated throughout the entire arena.

"There are no heroes in here," Naruto exclaimed with glee. "_Only monsters and madmen_!"

He turned to stare at the proctor, his smile settling down after a few more snorts and chuckles.

"What a mess," Kakashi sighed then, shaking his head as the medic-nin entered quickly the arena, to take care of the fallen form of Rock Lee.

"The Winner of the Chuunin Exams is hereby declared to be Naruto Uzumaki!"

The voice of the proctor sounded fully in the silent arena.

Nobody applauded.

Nobody clapped their hands or even did anything remotely like a cheer in his direction. In that silence interrupted only by the slight breeze of the wind…

Naruto never felt more alone in his life.

In the hospital, Sakura Haruno opened her eyes to the stern gaze of the icy blue orbs of Inoichi Yamanaka and her sensei, who were both looking at her critically.

"How are you feeling now, Sakura?" her sensei asked her quietly.

"Sensei?" Sakura whispered in her low voice. "Everything…hurts."

"It's all right now," Yugao nodded firmly. "You'll heal. Just get some rest, all right?"

She frowned for a moment. "Why…am I here?"

"You…you went against Neji, and you fought well but in the end…well, you knocked out each other." Yugao's voice was soft as Inoichi simply left the room in silence, after giving one single glance to the woman. "So, well…you're in the hospital…Ah, right, your parents left the village for some visit to Otafuku Gai, do you have any relatives there?"

"No," Sakura mumbled meekly. "But they do go there to talk with the suppliers for the bakery," the girl added. She frowned. "They didn't tell me."

Her voice was barely hearable, but more than enough for Yugao to answer back.

"In their absence, as your Jounin sensei I have been named your guardian," the woman replied. "You'll be fit for duty in a few weeks, until then rest and…" the woman's face turned into a smirk. "You have an appointment with the Hokage the following week, together with the rest of your teammates."

She winked. "I already forwarded the measurements for your Chuunin flak jacket."

Sakura's eyes widened in disbelief, before a smile appeared on her face as her heart menaced to burst. She had won. She was a Chuunin. She was a Chuunin like her teammates.

She swiped away her tears with the back of her hand, ignoring the slight pain that she felt from her finger's soreness. It felt as if she had been kneading dough for hours…how had she reduced her hands like that?

She sort-of recalled a blurry bad moment that began in a forest…but nothing more.

Yugao Uzuki left her student in the room and walked outside, closing the door behind her silently and turning to gaze at Inoichi. They walked outside, disappearing in a flicker and reappearing on a rooftop, where Inoichi began to talk.

"The memories were suppressed, not erased," he said calmly. "To erase memories is a punishment for any Yamanaka found guilty with execution," he added then. "Her psyche worked on her own however: there was no recollection of the events on the forefront, but in the back of her mind…either a skilled Yamanaka inserted the memories of her killing her parents, or there really is no doubt on her being the culprit."

"The Hokage…"

"I know," Inoichi replied. "I did watch the tournament. We cannot allow the Jinchuuriki to be any more destabilized than he is now. Treat him with shinobi gloves. In the months of training to be fully brought in the Chuunin ranks he should have calmed down…and there _are_ the obligatory psychological evaluations."

"Should I look out for something?"

"If…" Inoichi's voice lowered itself to a murmur. "Listen: he has abandonment issues that can only even remotely compare to the same ones as Anko Mitarashi, and while she had both psychologically and physical abuse on her from her beginning as a Genin, Naruto's psychological abuse comes from his very first memories. He wasn't physically manhandled at all during his life, except of course when it came to the beginning of his shinobi career…but it doesn't change the fact that you are not dealing with normal persons."

"Whenever are we normal?" she snorted. If she had to say it to herself, that snort was completely genuine.

"You aren't right now. You are devoid of emotions, and act based on hearsay, mimicking the interactions you see others do. Sakura Haruno will probably have…triggers, like seeing a forest or a specific sound or smell. When she has one of those, _bring her back to the present_. She was literally imprinted with some sort of prey-predator mentality, and Anko didn't want a repeat of Orochimaru so she's not only fiercely loyal to Konoha…but she's going to have a terrible complex concerning her teammates. _Do not separate them_. Anko 'tied' her traumas to the 'pack' figure of the Forest of Death tigers. You separate them? She _will_ attack you like you're the devil possessed."

"Sai?"

"Sai's normal," Inoichi shrugged. "Out of them all he is the one who probably has been broken at some point in the past, but judging by how he was sleeping when I delved in his mind…I can't tell you more."

Yugao looked to the monument with the faces of the Konoha Hokage on it, before taking a single, deep breath. "So what should I _really_ look out for during missions?"

"If Naruto starts laughing diffuse whatever it is before he gets a chance to speak," Inoichi began calmly. "If Sakura starts to shiver or mutter something to herself, intervene _immediately_. If one of the two cracks, then the other will soon follow. And if the ones who cracked do something to the other, the guilt complex could lead you to two _potential suicides_."

"So I've got madmen beneath me now?" Yugao actually chuckled _honestly_. "That's just like my Anbu days…only they were my teammates."

"Yes, we usually send these cases to Anbu to begin with," Inoichi whispered. "The training strips operative of most of their emotions…which works well, for as long as it can. The Jinchuuriki however…he can't become a secretive figure. He has to be public. Do some big-shot actions to restore his morale and that of the village. You should be glad there isn't a war front open, or they'd probably send him over there to pull some weight and come back a decorated hero or—"

A hawk screeched up in the sky.

No hawks screeched unless an urgent Jounin-above trouble emerged that required all Jounin to be present.

Since the Tournament was winging to a close however…

It probably was to reform the teams that had lost members within and to get the bureaucratic parts over.

"We'll talk more about this later then," Yugao said. Inoichi just nodded back, before they both disappeared once more.

Back in the hospital, her worried father forced Hinata in her bed…not that his face showed it, but she liked to believe he was actually worried for her.

Naruto was dead.

There was no other explanation.

That thing wasn't Naruto.

It _couldn't_ be.

The Kyuubi had killed Naruto. Her Naruto had been killed by a foul demon. Naruto-kun was…

She began to cry and moan in pain, even as the doctors arrived to sedate her. Her Byakugan activated on instinct the next moment, as she slammed her palm against the one closest to her before they could even get as far as stick a sedative in her body.

They still managed to sedate her once her body gave away to her tiredness. As Hinata slumped down into a restless sleep, and the doctors began to work on the various stitches that had reopened along her sides, Hiashi slightly tensed the muscles in his right hand —it wouldn't do to clench it— and walked outside.

Calmly, he activated the Byakugan just in time to see Rock Lee brought in the intensive care unit by the doctors, but his gaze settled elsewhere. He exhaled slowly as he made his way to where Neji was. His brother's son was already awake, his gaze settled on the ceiling. As he walked in, he could see the boy's eyes move towards him, before his entire frame tensed like that of a deer ready to run.

"Neji."

"Hyuga-sama," the boy replied bowing.

There was silence between the two.

"Have you been told?"

"I activated the Byakugan the moment I awoke," Neji whispered. "I saw the entire thing."

"It was unfortunate," Hiashi acquiesced quietly.

"He will not pay for it, will he?" Neji remarked. "It is fate that some people are simply destined to die without being avenged."

Hiashi's breath quivered for a moment, before the head of the Hyuga clan moved his gaze sideways, as he headed towards the window.

"And you were trying to claim your revenge, by attacking Hinata in the forest?"

"I wanted her scroll," Neji bristled. "I had no intention to harm her."

"Whether a lie or not," Hiashi replied. "Ultimately, you went against the heiress of the clan and caused her demise."

"I have come to terms with my actions."

"Indeed, as the clan too has," Hiashi nodded slowly. "You know," the man whispered. "Your father was not sacrificed by the elders of the clan," he added. "He chose that end for himself."

"Of course, Hyuga-sama."

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"It is not my place to say, Hyuga-sama."

The silence came back and stretched uncomfortably for a few more seconds. "Would you like to train with the main branch?"

Another heartbeat of silence settled in.

Neji's eyes looked towards the back of Hiashi, who was still gazing outside the window. The man's posture wasn't tense, at least to the casual observer, but the Hyuga clan head was actually averting his gaze from him by simply faking 'looking at something else'.

There was nothing of interesting outside of the window, which Neji could discern without even activating his own Byakugan.

"Why?"

"Because potential wasted is something I find distasteful," Hiashi added. "And because, if I have to choose the dagger to strike at my back, I prefer yours," the man exhaled slowly. "At least it would feel like repaying the debt I have with your father."

"I don't believe you on my father's demise."

"I know," Hiashi nodded. "I _know_."

Neji exhaled this time, clenching both hands against the fabric of the bed sheet, before finally closing his eyes and nodding quietly. "I will need time to think about it."

"Very well."

With those two words, Hiashi turned and left the room.

Neji lowered his back against the pillow of his bed, as he let out a breath of relief he didn't know he was holding.

"_Neh, Neji? What are you going to do after you make chuunin?"_

_A kunai thrown, again the same move. "Whatever fate decides."_

"_Spoilsport," she had grinned, like she always did. "I'm going to become a medic-nin and a long-range expert."_

"_Isn't it impossible?"_

"_Why? Tsunade-sama can both fight and heal, she's the best!"_

"_And who would teach you both? It isn't your fate to become Tsunade."_

_She had lowered her gaze. "And why not?" she had grown angry. "I can damn well try, can't I!?"_

"_To go against fate is—"_

"_Then fate should just get the hell away!" Tenten had screamed pointing her right accusing finger at him. "You won't know until you try anyway, right? So maybe…maybe it is fate for me to be both rather than neither! Unless you try…how can you be so sure?"_

_To that, he had not answered._

Neji's eyes settled on the door sliding open again, to admit one of the medics.

It was then, that Neji asked a question he didn't think he'd ever ask.

Naruto Uzumaki was given quite the berth when he walked out of the arena and towards the hospital. He was in luck he could use the rooftops, because from the few meters done on the ground he just _knew_ his life in Konoha had plummeted from barely acceptable to outright demon to exorcise.

He ignored the looks and the harsh insults that were sent his way, as he reached for the hospital.

As he entered the double doors, silence fell around the waiting room. He walked towards the receptionist, who seemed to be fighting between keeping professional and sniping at him some insults. He just looked at her.

"My team," he said calmly. "Where are they?"

"Room Nine-F and Ten-D, sixth floor and fourth floor respectively," the receptionist replied smoothly. He nodded and left. The mass hysteria of murmurs and whispers that followed behind him was like a cloud of deep putrid air that lingered and felt heavy upon Naruto's shoulders.

He reached for the fourth floor, opening the door only to find Sai asleep and bandaged heavily. The boy's skin was pale. Naruto grimaced, clenching his fists as he turned to let the boy sleep and head towards the other room. The tenth floor was the one for the mild cases, or just the observation. He opened the correct room and then tensed.

The bed was empty.

He had a kunai in his hand before he had taken even a single step inside, and he was hiding in a corner of the room before he could even think properly about the fact that no, there was no danger going on around.

He felt somewhat stupid, by the time he decided to come out. Sakura herself had been in the bathroom, and the moment she came out, she let out a startled and half-whispered 'eep' at seeing him emerge from the shadows.

"Naruto?" Sakura whispered.

"Ehi, Sakura," he replied with a bitter smile and a hand wave. "How are you?" he asked, "Medic treating you well?"

She rolled her eyes and sat down on the edge of the bed, just as Naruto took the chair to sit in front of her.

"Yeah," her voice was barely a whisper, as Naruto's eyes went to glance at her neck scar with guilt flowing to his face. "I shouldn't be moving," she added slowly. "But I can't stay still." She slowly laid down on the bed after that, exhaling slowly. "It's easy now to ignore the pain."

"One gets used to it," Naruto remarked. "It just dulls out after a while."

"How did it go?" Sakura asked. "Did you fight Sai?"

"No," he shook his head. "I…fought Tenten, then Kurotsuchi and…Rock Lee."

Sakura frowned. "I won against Neji…yeah, I did," she smiled wistfully. "How did your fights go?"

"Can we talk about something else?" he pleaded her with a slight worry in his voice. "Anything else."

Sakura closed her eyes for a moment, trying to visibly ignore the bright pink elephant in the room as she struggled to find the question she wanted to ask.

"Do…Do you want to go out?" she finally croaked. "When I'm out of here…to eat something somewhere?" she hastily added in her whispered voice.

Naruto clenched his hands tightly. He passed them through his hair a moment later, before finally replying.

"Some…things happened," he finally acquiesced. "I probably won't be in the team any…"

"No." Sakura actually growled as she grabbed his jacket and pulled him towards her. "_**No**_." She added, her eyes hard and narrowed on his face.

"S-Sakura?"

"I said no. Understood?" she hissed.

"H-Hai," he whispered. "But I…"

"No," she said once more. "You don't get to walk away, whatever happened, whatever is going to happen…_you don't get to walk away from me._"

She let him go a moment later, her face softening up as her eyes went to the ceiling. "My parents are out of town…I sent Yugao-sensei to get me some things from my house but…can I get some _dango_ from Hebi? Please?"

Naruto swallowed hard, before nodding once. "Ah, Naruto?" Sakura said then just as he was standing up.

"Yeah, Sakura?"

"We're chuunin," she smiled. "All of us, sensei said so."

He looked out of the window. "I see…it's good, right?"

"Of course it is, silly," she murmured. "It means we get to learn elemental techniques, aren't you happy about that? You always yelled to Iruka-sensei about learning cool techniques…"

He scratched the back of his head. "I…I did?" he said. "I didn't even remember…I'll be going then, Sakura. I'll be back as fast as I can."

The moment he left, Sakura's eyes narrowed. Her _pack_mate was afraid of something, her teammate was dancing around the issue of the tournament as if it was some scalding poisonous fruit. She had to know what it was that troubled him…and then she had to kill the trouble to the root. She looked around. Firstly, she had to find the rest of her _pack_ and then she had to find where the trouble was.

Nobody hurt her team and lived. _Nobody_.

The Sandaime's pipe snapped in half the moment the Anbu finally reported their findings to him. The rest of the assembled Jounin stood pale in lines in front of his desk. Not only were they not talking, they all were as shocked as he was.

The Hokage's eyes were wide in shock, as he slowly began to take a step out from behind his desk and towards the elemental countries map.

He had believed Orochimaru was going to attack Konoha for some reason. He had been blind to the bigger threat; he had even asked Suna to mobilize their army…

Then Orochimaru had attacked Takigakure…

…_and he hadn't stopped there_.

He had moved, towards Kusagakure. "What is the status of Kusa now?"

"They fell to inner turmoil," the Anbu replied. "The prison…it was breached and the prisoners freed."

Hiruzen grimaced. "And what of the situation with the Uchiha?"

"Unfortunately, it is confirmed. Kabuto Yakushi was a spy."

Hiruzen's growl grew to the point where the Anbu had to take a step back, as the Sandaime slammed his fist against the wall in front of him. "He was a Chuunin and a medic-nin! How could he pass all the tests!? He had to take them with a Yamanaka, right!?"

"They always came back clean, Hokage-sama." The Anbu replied. "Medical Director Nobue Yakushi has been taken into custody and is being interrogated, but he seems clean."

"What of…Otogakure? I cannot believe they attacked while we had their Kage here!"

"Reports indicate the few plants we had in their village have been killed," the Anbu stated. "The same can be said for Takigakure and the Kusagakure Nin have stopped contacting. Even those in Sunagakure have gone silent."

"The ones in Suna worry me more," Hiruzen remarked. "Try and find out what happened. We are allies of Taki and Kusa, and while I'd wish for nothing more than to see Oonoki die in an ambush, we should actually try and reclaim the lost countries before Orochimaru has a chance to infiltrate their systems…if he does, it will be extremely difficult to root him out."

"Should the state of war be declared?"

"No," Hiruzen sighed. "As much as it pains me, Konoha isn't ready for a war on multiple fronts…not against Orochimaru anyway. If we had…" he drummed on the desk with his fingers as he sat back down. "Reinforce the border patrols. Start stamping the pamphlets for contingency TS."

The Anbu tensed, as did the Jounin in the room. "Sir?"

"It has gone on long enough," Hiruzen replied with his eyes hardening. "We will settle this once and for all."

"Sir…with all due respect…"

"Begin the contingency, soldier."

"Understood, Hokage-sama!" with a flash, the Anbu was gone.

He clenched his right hand and looked over at the results of the exams. Before he could debrief the Jounin present however, another Anbu appeared in the room, extremely agitated.

"Hokage-sama!"

"What is it, now!?" he snapped back.

The Anbu recoiled as if struck, before standing to attention.

"It's...Kiri, Hokage-sama…they've…they have _lost_ the civil war."

The rest of the Jounin assembled assisted then to a peculiar sight.

The Hokage, the Sandaime and the one also known as the Kami of Shinobi…he began _to curse aloud_ every single god or existence of the beyond there was.

That was not a good day to be a Jounin.

Elsewhere, Orochimaru simply walked past the giant black cube that was supposed to be an 'artifact' of a civilization long gone, tearing his Kusanagi out of the body of the prison leader who held a name of no importance.

"Anyone else?" he mock asked to the rest of the prisoners. "No? Good. Hebi!" he exclaimed, snarling as his assistant moved forward. "Take care of them! Get their names and ranks! From this moment hence…you are all shinobi of Otogakure, understood!?"

There was loud swallowing and hastily made nods. "Good!"

Then Orochimaru turned to leave. "And pack the cube up! We'll bring it along the way!"

Nobody dared to refuse, even when they knew just _what_ the box contained.

The Snake Sannin just smiled.

It was good to be on time on a _schedule_.

**Author's notes**

**Fox words + Orochimaru Words= ?**

**Naruto Uzumaki= nothing. Just…well, Maelstrom, Whirlpool…technique named after him…I thought it fitting.**

**Why did people think Sakura was dead? You are **_**evil**_** guys! I'm not that cruel…yet.**

**(I didn't even **_**kill**_** Lee, geez)**

**I lamp-shaded what happened to Sasuke. You can make your accurate guesses from there on and I will neither confirm or deny them. Strange isn't it? I can describe gore and violence and am squicky when it comes to other things...guess I still do have an inkling of morality in my fibers of 'big bad evil writer'.**


	32. The Fifth Brings the Staredown to an End

Introverted

Chapter Thirty-Two

There was the light beeping sound of a heartbeat monitor working, in the depths of hospital. In the intensive care area, that had seen far more work than normal since the start of the exams, a lone figure dressed in a green spandex suit watched over the comatose body of his pride-student.

He couldn't help but feel at fault, for not having convinced Rock Lee with words. At the same time, he felt glad he was still alive. Even the split limb was not a problem, and with enough training, the boy would be able to return to active service within a few weeks.

Maito Gai moved out of the room with careful tip-toeing steps. He could be loud when he wanted to, but he also knew when to be quiet. It was as he was walking across the corridor to reach for Neji's room that he stumbled across a pink haired kunoichi —who was literally ignoring a nurse trying to convince her to return to her room.

"Haruno-san, you shouldn't be moving," the nurse bit her lip as she tried once more to move her hand on the girl's shoulder, only for her to snarl in her direction.

"I'm fine," she snapped back, holding her stomach with her right hand. "You said he was on the fourth floor, right?"

"Yes, but Haruno-san you shouldn't—"

"I'm a kunoichi, I can live with this pain!" she snarled in a low toned hiss, showing her teeth, before she stopped to gaze long and hard with her emerald eyes at Maito Gai's form —the Jounin had remained to watch the scene unfold. "You've seen something you like, eyebrow-freak?"

"That is a most unyouthful accusation," Maito Gai replied calmly. "And you are most unyouthful at—"

"You're Rock Lee's sensei, right?" Sakura interrupted him then, and this time, her gaze was wary.

"I am," he replied with a nod. "But you do not have to worry, I am above petty revenge."

"What are you talking about?" Sakura frowned. There was genuine ignorance behind her eyes, something that made Maito Gai still for a second. "What happened during the tournament? Nobody wants to tell me anything —that's why I'm going to get the answer from Sai. The Pervert is probably drawing porn or turning himself blind if there is no one there to keep an eye out on him anyway." The kunoichi huffed, her voice low and throaty.

"Your teammate did not tell you?" Maito had to admit it to himself: at the word 'teammate' he had lowered his voice a moment in a slight show of emotion…but he hadn't expected the girl to catch on to that and suddenly change her posture.

"No," she growled lightly. "You have a problem with Naruto?" she met his eyes head-on, as if she was a beast seeking a confrontation.

"I do not approve of his unbecoming conduct in regards with my students," Maito Gai replied frostily. "He killed one of them and brought the other in intensive care."

The kunoichi paled. "W-what? No, Naruto would never do something like that." She shook her head firmly.

"Why don't you ask him then?" Maito Gai remarked. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I will meet with the only student I have left that will not need months of rehab and training to return effective."

He disappeared afterwards, leaving behind Sakura who felt sapped of her strengths. Naruto…no, Naruto had to have had a good reason for doing that. She'd ask him afterwards.

As it was, it took her a few more minutes to reach Sai's room, even with the nurse constantly nagging to her about risking her health to worsen again. She entered anyway, rumbling as she grabbed a chair to sit down next to the pale and sleeping form of her teammate.

The nurse huffed. "I'll send an intern if you're not back in your bed by dinner time."

"My place is here," Sakura deadpanned back with a light growl, her low-key voice making it even more threatening. "_Just try it_."

The nurse brought her hands up in the air before leaving, clearly tired of insisting against a mule.

Sakura huffed back, crossing her arms over her chest, and wincing as she felt her muscles soreness. She didn't cry out —no use making the nurse turn back or whatever, she could stand the pain— nor did she have teary eyes. She just stayed there, breathing slowly to calm herself, as she made sure that Sai was indeed still breathing and alive. She looked towards the window and then towards the door.

They were both unguarded. She frowned. When was Naruto going to come back?

She widened her eyes then: Naruto had gone out to take food! How was he supposed to know she had moved? No, she had to calm down. It wouldn't do to ventilate needlessly. He would go first in her room, and then he would go in Sai's. Yes, he'd do that. She knew tigers did that —they sniffed their young when they went astray, and roared when they found _someone else_ had been _eating_ _them_ roasted.

Always prey on the weak. Show no mercy to the young.

They won't give you any favor after all…

They never do.

Sasuke Uchiha awoke to darkness. Darkness was all he saw. In the deepest pits of hell, he supposed this was how sinners suffered. They were suffering for their sins of betrayal, forever unable to do what they needed to obtain the pardon of their family. His eyes had been taken and, in that horrible darkness that scared him out of his wits, a voice smoothly spoke to him.

"Uchiha," the voice was stern and cold, alien to his ears. It wasn't a caring one like a doctor or a nurse could be, and it clearly didn't seem like a fan having made his way through whatever security the hospital had.

"My…eyes," he croaked.

"Your stupidity knows _no bounds_," the voice gutturally replied. "To accept a boon from someone you merely knew for a while, to be _blinded_ in your desire of revenge…that is the reason why I find it fitting for you to be now in this condition."

"Who are you?" he asked.

The voice did not reply to that question.

"I am no one of importance, and yet I cannot help but find myself disgusted. What were you thinking, when you acted that way?" his voice was raspy. "What possessed you to do that?"

"I wanted revenge on Itachi!" Sasuke exclaimed hotly to the darkness.

"And you didn't see it fitting to ask someone else for it!?"

"They always sympathized," Sasuke snarled. "They taught me silly tricks!"

"And yet you were the first in the academy," the voice whispered. "You were the blessed heir of the Uchiha clan, the last descendant…and now? Now you're a fangless snake. You aren't even worthy of being used for reproduction…because you were made sterile," the stern tone turned frosty. "You were a fruit tree, and now that your fruits have been plucked and you are drying up…there is nothing left of worth in you."

"N-no," Sasuke whispered, clenching his fists tightly. "You're…_Who are you!?_"

"No one important!" the voice snarled back. "What is important…is what you wish to be," it soothingly replied. "Tell me, do you wish to be strong, to be the best? Do you wish to avenge your clan, and kill Itachi?"

"Yes!" he screamed out to the top of his lungs. Why wasn't a nurse coming in, or a doctor? Who was the lunatic? He could not see. _He couldn't see_ him and he was _afraid_ of the feeling of powerlessness he had running through his veins.

"Then I'm sorry," the voice replied calmly, "Because _you will never set foot out of the village again_."

Sasuke screamed and tried to claw at the voice, whoever he was, but his limbs found only air. Soon he was strapped down to the bed and sedated by what he hoped were the medics, but even then his screams rose to the point they became shrieks, and then…then they became sobs as blood dribbled down his cheeks in the place of tears.

As he lost consciousness, he sincerely hoped never having to wake up again.

He had lost, after all.

He would never avenge his clan.

Inoichi Yamanaka stepped outside the room, gazing at the Hokage calmly as he gave his report.

"He is unfit for duty. I suggest putting off the transplant of normal eyes until he is declared fit for normal Genin chores."

Hiruzen exhaled. "The objective never was Naruto," the Sandaime murmured. "It was Sasuke."

"The Sharingan," Inoichi nodded.

"Yes, in retrospect…I should have known. Busy as he was in researching everything, he always had a fixation with the Uchiha's Sharingan."

"I suggest assigning him an aid for the first times," the Yamanaka replied. "And then someone to generally keep an eye on him. He is no longer able to reproduce, and at his death…"

"The finances of the Uchiha would end up to the Hokage, who is old and cranky," Hiruzen finished the other man's thought. "And he might just look the other way if we forge a document or two. Isn't that right, Inoichi?"

"That was not my…"

"I know what you _really_ meant." The Sandaime's eyes narrowed. "Anyway," Hiruzen shrugged, "I have another meeting in the hospital to attend to," he added. "One I hope to actually _enjoy_."

He flickered out, leaving behind the head of the Yamanaka clan.

The Sandaime's steps took him to where he had _supposed_ the medical staff would treat Naruto, but the room he entered was empty. He frowned slightly, before finally shaking his head and heading off towards the room of his teammate Sakura. He supposed it was something called 'young love'. He was wrong once more, and at the same time right. He did enter to see Naruto in the room, but at the same time, the girl was missing.

"Naruto?" he asked, startling the boy who was looking around nervously, holding one of Hebi's big 'congratulation' sweet packages. How the man managed to remain in the green with his shop after all the food he purposefully gifted around…

"Ah, Hokage-sama," Naruto bashfully took a step backwards. "I think I entered the wrong room but…"

"I don't think so," the old shinobi shook his head. "Maybe she went to look for your teammate?"

"Oh, right," Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"Naruto?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"You can stop," the Sandaime sighed, his eyes narrowing on the boy. "It doesn't work."

Naruto's eyes hardened as he gave out a bitter chuckle. "I suppose I can't fool you, neh?"

"Naruto, listen," Hiruzen took a step forward, only for Naruto's right hand to move up with the palm wide —clearly telling him to stop.

"I'm sorry will _not_ work," he spat out calmly. "You could have told me of my father at any moment in the last year, or did I still lack the maturity then? You could have told me of the Kyuubi since I was six, but you didn't. You could have told me a lot, but you left me to rot in ignorance, to let me fester among those glares and the stares of the others. You left me _alone_." He hissed. "I don't need you any longer, old man," he shook his head, gazing downwards. "I stopped leaning on you a long time ago."

"I see," there was a wistful face on Hiruzen, as he softly made a small smile. "All grown up then? No longer a child, all ready to battle and kill in the name of _Konoha_?" there was a moment of silence, before the Hokage chuckled back. "No, not in the name of Konoha…but in the name of your team, isn't that right?"

He nodded back. "There's no use lying to you, is there?"

"I thought pretty much the same thing once," Hiruzen bitterly replied, smiling as he watched Naruto's eyes widen. "I had just lost a teammate, in the midst of the shrapnel and the blood, I thought 'Why? Why am I fighting for a village that did this? Why am I fighting when this cause isn't mine to begin with? Why am I fighting for money?' and that was when I realized I was being a hypocrite," the Sandaime said calmly.

"I could blame the world, I could blame the gods, but in the end…_I_ was the one who chose the forehead protector. I could have been a farmer, you know? My younger brother was all set to become my change if I didn't want the duty of becoming the clan head through the shinobi service," he shook his head. "If you think you can recriminate now about what has already happened…because of _your_ choice, then…"

"Don't give me that bullshit!" Naruto snapped. "What else could I have done!?"

"You could have come to me," Hiruzen replied. "You could have told me you didn't want to be a shinobi."

"I'm the Jinchuuriki —you would have made a shinobi anyway!"

"No," Hiruzen's eyes hardened. "_I would have not._"

"What ifs don't change the present!" Naruto swept his right hand in front of him, "I've been forced to—"

"Spare me the drama!" Hiruzen's voice grew now, slightly heated. "You think you had it tough? Please! Watch your mother blow up because of a Missing-Nin attack, and then come back and cry about your misery!"

"_I never had a choice!_"

"_You never asked for one!_"

"So it's what, a trip to the extraction center?" Naruto growled.

"No," the Sandaime shook his head. "Naruto, the world is not made only of backstabbers or glares," Hiruzen spoke calmly. "It is also made of forgiveness and understanding," slowly, he brought his right hand to lay on the boy's shoulder. "There isn't only hate in the world…there is also love."

Naruto fidgeted. He closed his eyes and groaned, trying to come up with an answer. Finally, he seemed to find one, as his eyes opened once more to stare at the Hokage. "So because of…love, you sealed the Kyuubi into me? Because of…love, my father decided I was to become the Jinchuuriki of Konoha? Are you sure this is the sign of love? Because…" his right hand gestured around him, "This…this isn't love. I haven't felt love on my skin since I was six. What do you think this is, a cheesy novel? The hero doesn't win in the end," Naruto chuckled. "He never does."

Hiruzen frowned. "No, he doesn't," he acquiesced. "But by living, by fighting…maybe he can give hope for someone who will come later? You should know not to blame the—"

"Children? I do not know why people insist on calling them an example of honesty and innocence when they clearly aren't. They're egoistical, spoilt, ill-mannered. Frankly, they should be called an example of chaos rather than one of innocence."

There was one last sigh from the Sandaime, soon followed by the old shinobi gesturing for the exit of the room to the boy. "You should go and be with your teammates."

"No insisting?" Naruto's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Naruto, trust me," Hiruzen smiled. "If I thought you really were a menace for Konoha…you wouldn't have taken one more step _anywhere_ without me hounding you."

With those words, the Sandaime left the room sporting the briefest of smiles on his face. He hadn't come there to excuse Konoha's temperament. He had come there to make sure he knew what strings he could pull, and which he could not.

Naruto on the other hand left in a hurry, carrying the package with the food in his right hand. He ignored the looks of the medical personnel, their purposefully blocking of his path with things or their words that came when he gave his back to them. He ignored them, but that didn't mean he wasn't listening to them.

He finally reached Sai's room, slowly opening it.

His gaze settled on Sakura's sleeping form, her face burrowed on the side of Sai's bed. Sai was wide-awake, his eyes looking in disbelief from him to the girl. "Dickless, help," he mouthed. "Before Kinky rapes me, save me. I'm too beautiful to go."

Sakura moaned slightly as she heard him walk inside and close the door behind himself. "Pervert," Naruto whispered. "I got you your death soup," he remarked.

"I see," Sai replied. "Did you pass, Dickless?"

"I…I suppose I did," he answered. "We all did, believing Sakura," he murmured.

"Have they checked on you?" Sai queried. "That much sappiness cannot be normal."

"I'm fine," Naruto replied. "My arms hurt just a little."

"If you say so," Sai acquiesced, bringing his eyes back to the sleeping form of Sakura. "Is Kinky Cherry implying a threesome with this?"

Even in her sleep, Sakura's right hand shot forward to punch Sai to the side of his face, but without any real strength, it simply looked as if she had given him a small buff to the cheek.

"Does she do that on reflex now?" Naruto whispered with a light smirk.

A comfortable silence settled in the room, as Naruto finished unpacking the food. Slowly he nudged Sakura's shoulder to wake her up. The girl's eyes fluttered for a second, before she seemed to be sniffing the air and…purring? The next instant, her eyes opened completely as she made a small yawn while stretching. "Uh?"

"Food," Naruto sighed, handing over the dango to the girl.

"Thanks," she muttered back. They ate in silence, the girl every now and then checking towards the window and then the door as if expecting someone to walk in at any moment. Naruto remained quietly munching on his ramen for a while, until a question startled him out of his thoughts.

"Ehi, Naruto?" Sakura asked suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Can I have some?" she said, her gaze pointing at his bowl. He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as he handed over the bowl and the chopsticks.

Sakura looked at the broth and the noodle, her hand holding onto the cup as if it was some sort of relic. Her face was suddenly brimming with tears, as she croaked out through wracked sobs. "It's…it's _warm_."

"Dickless, you made Cherry cry," Sai's voice was actually deadly serious as he spoke then, narrowing his gaze on Naruto's own with the most powerful glare one who had an emotionless face could muster.

"Sakura! What's the matter?" Naruto queried, his voice filled with concern.

"If…" she stammered, "If I'm good I'll have dango," she murmured. "If…If I'm really good…I can have warm things."

Her face pressed against Naruto's chest the next moment, the bowl of ramen forgotten and yet tightly held by her hands; as if afraid, as if she thought someone would spill it or would come and steal it from her. Naruto's throat constricted, as he didn't know what to do, until finally both his arms decided for him. He hugged tightly the girl's frame and held her as she cried her tears, softly whispering to her ear words he had repeatedly used for himself in his youth.

"It's all right," he murmured, "Everything's fine," he added. "You're safe now," he gently caressed her hair. "It's all over."

"I…The…" she stammered, before stopping and simply staying there, like that. After a few minutes, Sakura's breathing became deep and firm, as if she were taking his scent like a dog or a wolf.

"You smell of blood," she whispered after detaching herself slowly. "It's nice." She added that with a small smile, her tone girlish and a light blush on her face. "Sai smells of blood too," she remarked as an afterthought. "We all smell of blood!" she clapped her hands together once, before erupting into a fit of giggles, as if she had just made an inside joke only she was partaking of.

"Sakura," Naruto smiled hesitantly, "Didn't you want to eat the ramen? Before it becomes cold?"

The girl's eyes widened, and then she quickly scampered to take the bowl she had left on the bed desk, slurping it down as if it would evaporate otherwise. The moans of pleasure she made while eating it were the very same Naruto used to make, and to that…he actually had to chuckle too.

"Cherry," Sai deadpanned. "I don't smell of blood."

"Uh-uhn!" she nodded as her mouth was full. "Yesh yew do!" she said between slurps. "Ansh it's a nhish smell!"

"Don't speak with your mouth full," Sai replied. "Swallow before speaking."

"That sounds dirty," Sakura rebuffed the boy with a chuckle. "Pervert."

"I was stating the obvious," Sai raised an eyebrow. "You _are_ the Kinky one."

"So I'm the only one not perverted?" Naruto sighed in mock despair. "What have I done to get perverts in my team?"

"The Harem Lord thus spoke," Sai remarked dryly. "And he was the one not perverted…"

"I, well," Naruto stuttered, clearly caught red-handed. Sakura watched Naruto try to defend himself with embarrassment clearly visible on his face, and couldn't help but laugh once more. This was good. This was her team, her pack, her friends…this was what where she was _meant_ to be.

"Ahem," there was a slight coughing sound as the door opened to admit a man with bright white hair and holding on its back a giant scroll. "I didn't know about that title, Naru-chan!"

Jiraiya of the Sannin chuckled as he watched the boy turn and stare at him with clear surprise. What, was he expecting him to disappear after their interesting lessons on peeking and mock imitating the Rasengan?

"Jiraiya-sama," Naruto spoke calmly, trying to act like the controlled little Genin he was. "I am not Naru-chan."

"Oh, right! Harem-Lord Naruto-sama!" Jiraiya clapped his hands together. "Well! Very well, I have heard from a little bird that I'm watching the new Chuunin of Konoha!"

"The Hokage is not a little bird," Sai remarked calmly. "And a little bird can't be Hokage."

"Ignore him, Jiraiya…sama," Sakura spoke firmly, but with a wary tone. Jiraiya didn't need his people person skills to understand she was judging him based on _Naruto's_ reactions, rather than her own personal opinion. He supposed he had to expect that, if Inoichi's psychological statement was of any worth. "What is the reason one of the three sannin of Konoha has to be here now?"

"That's the fighting spirit I like to see in the youth of today," he winked at the girl, before gesturing at the blond boy. "I taught him well, didn't I? I am, after all, the gallant Jiraiya! It's only natural he manages to get women everywhere he so wishes!"

"So…" her voice was now dripping with venom and felt frosty…just like Tsunade's when he was found peeking on her. "You are the reason…" she continued calmly, too calmly, "He has _hussies_ and _whores_ following him around?"

"Ahem, no," he hastily flailed his arms in front of him. "I taught him afterwards! But henceforth, yeah…listen kid," he said with the utmost serious tone he could muster. "Never, ever, form a harem." He brought his right index finger upward as if instructing a baby on the important things never to do. "Find a nice girl, one, and then pledge your heart to her…understood? And never betray that pledge! That's the way of the Gallant Jiraiya!"

"Jiraiya-sama," Sai said calmly. "Aren't you a Porn and Smut writer said having hundreds of lovers everywhere in the elemental countries?"

"Learn what I teach, not what I do!" the Toad sage squawked out immediately.

"Oh?" Sakura's hand went protectively around Naruto's shoulder. Her eyes narrowed. "And what…type of porn writer, goody two-shoes smut wanker would ever want with my teammate that is not some sort of move to corrupt or send him down the same dark path of whoring that the manwhore with white hair is going through?"

Yes, he had just lost any chance of respect from the pink haired girl.

"I offered Naruto a chance for apprenticeship under yours truly—"

"_You won't have him!_" Sakura's face panicked as she pushed Naruto behind her, already taking out her kunai. "I won't let you take him away!" she stood, ready to attack at the minimum provocation. "He's my teammate. Mine. Not yours. Go and find yourself someone else to corrupt, you…you old perverted bastard!"

She was breathing raggedly, but Jiraiya simply sighed and brought both hands up in a sign of mock-surrender.

"I said I offered him…he didn't accept."

The girl's eyes narrowed on him, before asking confirmation from Naruto who looked shocked…probably because the man scared him —she'd have to defend him from that man, yes— and clearly not because she had a kunai in her hand.

She had pilfered it from the nurse's pocket beforehand —that would teach the woman never to leave her own weaponry unattended— and now it was _hers_.

Just like Naruto and Sai were.

"Neh, Sakura? Please drop the Kunai," Naruto said slowly. "Really…there's no need."

"All right," she exhaled slowly, putting the weapon back behind her hospital gown, slowly rolling a bit of fabric to hold it steady with chakra.

"So what do you want?" she hissed at the sannin venomously.

"You three and your sensei," Jiraiya said simply, "Will be my escort as we move around Konoha's borders. I've been told there is one among you who is able to easily send messages across long distances with ink," his eyes moved towards Sai, "Someone who would like to learn more about his family," his orbs hovered over Naruto, "And finally…well, what do you like to do, miss?" his gaze stilled on Sakura.

"Protect my team from old wankers," she barked out.

"Perfect!" he clapped his hands together. "We'll make you a wonderful kunoichi!"

"I don't trust you," she muttered. "But then again…what does a sannin need an _escort_ for?"

"There are rumors of a mercenary organization operating within other countries," he replied calmly. "And since the latest news…" he looked around the room for a moment, before finally whispering. "We are in a state of _silent_ war."

Sakura's heart plummeted.

Sai remained unfazed.

Naruto frowned.

"A war is going to break out?" Sakura's voice was quavering as she spoke. "Where? Against who?"

"It is apparent Orochimaru," Jiraiya remarked, "Has acquired Otogakure's services. He has attacked Takigakure and last seen passing through Kusagakure. If he keeps up the current direction, he will hit Amegakure by the end of the week."

"Where are we stationed, then?" Sakura's voice was a low murmur as she spoke.

"We are heading straight towards Otogakure," now the Sannin's voice was serious —gone was any trace of laughter or happiness. "Without Orochimaru or the large bulk of his army…we will be able to get a glimpse at the state of the country and which key structures should be hit to cripple their production and morale."

"So that's why," Naruto whispered bitterly. "That's why the Hokage asked me…"

"Yep," Jiraiya nodded once. "Listen, Naruto: let me handle the old man. You're centuries too young for even trying to outwit him and the same can be said for me," he chuckled, "But at least I have my good looks to carry me by!"

"When are we to depart, Jiraiya-sama?" Sakura asked then without hesitation. "Will we have time for—"

"Of course this won't be until you are all healthy once more," Jiraiya scoffed. "I will be going alone to check on the Amegakure situation, and find a lead for the mercenary organization. Afterwards we will be gone for a good amount of time…most likely six to seven months, but it could be more. So pack whatever you truly can't live without when the time comes and be warned that we won't be always sleeping in an inn or what-not…"

The Sannin turned thoughtful for a moment. "And find out what your chakra affinity is and get a technique down before I come back. If you haven't by the time I have returned…" he sighed, "I will personally write you in my next smut book as Ukes of some hermaphrodite character."

"W-what!" Sakura stuttered. "What the hell is…what the hell is _wrong_ with you!? You, you _pervert_!" she exclaimed.

"Hey! I'm not just a pervert like your friend there," he gestured towards Sai. Suddenly, he clapped his hands together and then spread his arms wide, as he brought his right hand to his chin and smiled while looking upwards with his eyes closed. His left arm went behind his back, as if to sustain it and push his chest upwards more.

"_I AM A SUPER-PERVERT!_" he roared then, "_THE GALLANT JIRAIYA_!"

"This is a hospital!" a nurse suddenly entered the room, hissing at the white-haired man who recoiled as if struck. "Keep your perversions out of here!"

"Yeah!" Sakura exclaimed, nodding towards the nurse.

"And sign my book," the nurse added afterwards, taking out an orange book entitled _Icha-Icha Nurse Maiko's Hard Secret, Extra-Kinky Edition._

To say Sakura was fuming…

It would be an understatement.

Kabuto Yakushi was instead pleased, as he handed over the Uchiha eyes to his contact, Ryuzetsu. The woman —a secret sleeper agent from the Kusagakure Fruit Division— had entered the tournament under the pretenses of being a Takigakure kunoichi. She was supposed to be the carrier of the eyes of the Uchiha towards his master, Orochimaru.

Secretly, the Otogakure team had killed her two teammates to make sure she would deliver it efficiently and promptly, without having to waste time staying behind their sensei —she would just have to slit the Jounin's throat during the night or stab him in the back and then be on her way.

"Remember the payment," he said then, just to make sure she would recall what would happen, if she were to leave with the eyes.

"The Box…"

"We have it," Kabuto replied calmly. There really was no need to wait for an answer from his master: if Orochimaru actually wanted something… he _always_ acquired it. "And we will open it, unless those eyes reach their destination."

The Anbu nodded, and then disappeared in a flicker a moment later. Her garb was that of a Suna Jounin, gently loaned from the upper echelon of the Suna Army who was now —using Konoha supplies— leaving to return to their village and prepare in case Amegakure was to fall.

The truth was that they would serve as a shield for him, as he made his way with the samples acquired from the Uchiha towards the Kazekage.

At the same time, if the Flower operative Shiore had managed her own side of the deal…

Well, Itachi was going _to love to the death_ his grandkids.

Either way, Orochimaru-sama would have what he needed from _both_ the Fruit and the Flower factions of Kusagakure.

He hadn't managed to acquire a Hyuga to deal with Kumogakure…but then again…

There was always the contingency ready.

The Sandaime exhaled slowly smoke in two big clouds, as he watched with tired eyes the map of the elemental countries.

"Where will you strike next, my student?" the Sandaime whispered. "Just _where_…"

"Hokage-sama!" an Anbu appeared quickly, his appearance slightly rattled as he stood to attention. "We have begun to spread the pamphlets as ordered!"

"Very well," he replied calmly. "Keep the Anbu at the ready. They are to intercept _her_ the moment she begins moving towards Konoha and send a message along the way."

"Understood, sir," the Anbu replied, standing to attention as he disappeared to deliver the order.

"So, Danzo," Hiruzen spoke then crisply. "What brings you here, now?"

"I do not doubt your hearing has gone worse with the passing of time," the Yami of shinobi remarked as he slowly appeared from the shadows. "Nor do I doubt your brains, old friend…but what you are doing is…"

"Orochimaru would never expect for the morsel to end in his nest," the Sandaime replied. "I can bank on that and Jiraiya's protection."

"Like you did for the exams? Where was the _Uchiha's_ protection there?"

"Weren't _you_ the one with a deal?" the Hokage smiled then, thinly, with a steel-like smile.

"Protection, in exchange for silence? Aren't you the one who failed him, considering…_where_ the eyes were lost?"

Danzo's only eye narrowed for a moment.

It was only that, and then…

Danzo laughed.

He laughed as his face morphed into one of disgust.

"_You knew!_" the Yami of Shinobi accused. "_You knew from the very beginning_!" Danzo snarled. "You knew…and you did _nothing_! You had to suspect…_you had to_." The old shinobi looked sideways then. "And you did this to _discredit me._" There was a moment of silence. "You know where the other eyes went, then…if you'd rather have them taken…"

"That is a hefty assumption, Danzo," Hiruzen replied calmly as he slowly stood up. "Truly, a hefty _assumption_."

It was a moment.

There was a flash as Danzo's harness snapped.

Tanto met Kunai, ripples of air countered rock shards the size of grains. The breathing grew quickened.

Then Danzo's left eye socket _burst apart in a shower of blood._ The Yami of shinobi recoiled, holding on to his bleeding side. Hiruzen's right hand was bleeding, clenching on an undisputable sharingan orb that turned to poultice within the man's hands the next moment.

Driblets of blood and eye fell on the carpet, as Hiruzen's breath slowly calmed down as the man straightened himself. "I hope my message has been clear, Danzo," the Sandaime said frostily. "I was willing to turn…_a blind eye_, as long as you acted in favor of Konoha…but one Genin is dead, another is in the hospital, both of our village. And if Naruto hadn't managed to overcome this…then there would also be Iwagakure to fight against…do you really wish for war!?" Hiruzen exclaimed. "Where has my teammate gone, to be replaced by a psychopathic warhawk!?"

"You know nothing!" Danzo roared back. "Your actions are once more guided by your _heart_! What do you think you are doing? Do you expect this action to be without consequences!?"

"No," Hiruzen shook his head slowly. "But if I hadn't acted now…you would have used that cursed eye on me, wouldn't you?"

"I swore I would never…"

"But a shinobi's promise is worth the metal of a kunai in the back," Hiruzen quipped back.

"How did you know which eye it was?"

"You never asked for a transplant," Hiruzen smoothly remarked. "You could have wobbled with both eyes…that you didn't…it meant you had something to hide beneath, like Kakashi's own."

"And what made you so certain it was me?" he retorted once more. "It could have been a spy! It could have been the boy himself!"

"Oh, but Naruto was all but a blood thirsty murderer when I met with him earlier!" Hiruzen pointed his accusing bloody finger at Danzo. "_I saw behind his eyes_, Danzo… What you did…what _guilt_ he will live with… it is _unforgivable_. He _trusted_ you!"

"And so what now? Are you going to kill me, Hokage-sama?" Danzo remarked dryly.

"No," the Sandaime shook his head. "You are assigned to the frontline, Danzo, as head of the military. You will recapture Takigakure, Kusagakure and then march against Orochimaru," Hiruzen said calmly. "I want to be clear…I do not kill you because you and your men are _needed_…but you are hardly _essential_," there was the hint of a smirk now, on the Sarutobi's face. "Take all your able-bodied men and move to the front…now get out of my _sight_, Danzo!"

Danzo stood still for a moment more, before bowing to the Hokage and turning to leave.

"Tobirama-sensei was wrong to choose you as the Hokage back then," Danzo remarked as he walked towards the door, "But in the end…_you grew to fit the mantle_."

With his bleeding eye socket, the Yami of shinobi left the Hokage's office.

In that deafening silence, Hiruzen bitterly turned back to his seat, looking at the complete _lack_ of devastation in his office. Even his Anbu had no idea what had just transpired…but then again, they were not old elderly men settled on their ways, forced to head-butt one another for supremacy every now and then.

He didn't even wash the hand he had used to squash that cursed sharingan.

Some powers…

Some powers aren't meant for mortals, shinobi or not.

"I _will protect_ Konoha from enemies within and without," Hiruzen whispered staring through the window at the still peaceful village. "But I will believe in you one last time, my old friend…for as long as I draw breath," he closed his eyes. "That is my duty…"

He took a deep, shuddering breath.

"…_my duty as Hokage_."

_The fellow countrymen of Konoha make up each part of my body… those of the village believe in me, and I believe in them… That's what it means to be Hokage…_

_**But he would not be fooled again**_.

**Author's notes**

***calm horses***

**Itachi asks **_**Hiruzen**_** to protect his brother. This means he has to tell him of 1) Madara or 2) Danzo. In Canon, Hiruzen is not seen having any idea on 'Madara' existing. So Itachi told him of **_**Danzo**_** as a menace.**

**However, Itachi also **_**blackmailed**_** Danzo with something else, otherwise what stopped Danzo from killing Sasuke anyway?**

**That something could have been Danzo slaughtering the clan, or it could have been the **_**knowledge**_** of what he did with Shishui's eye. Since Itachi is shown having one (In a crow) it also means he menaced to tell the Hokage who held the other, **_**as blackmail to keep Danzo off his brother.**_

**Now, Hiruzen **_**was not born stupid**_**. Itachi had one, and Shishui **_**was killed by**_** Danzo. Who held the other eye?**

**This also explains why Danzo **_**never**_** puppet-controlled Hiruzen, (albeit in Canon we can surmise that Kishimoto simply **_**hadn't thought**_** up the character of Danzo back then) because Hiruzen never actually gave him a reason to. (He held the secret of **_**knowing of the eye**_** something only his, to use it as trump-card when needed)**

**This means that…well, **_**you have just read of it**_**.**

**Eye Transplants are apparently common. Something even a Kunoichi (Rin) can do on a battlefield (To Kakashi) and which gives back a **_**fully functional eye**_** in short time.**

…**it sounds like Kill Bill and the 'pluck eye with chopstick' scene…**

***Shudders***

**(The battle was not 'Climactic' because they were in the middle of Konoha, in the Hokage's office, and the Anbu were watching. Still…they pulled it off and Hiruzen won because Danzo lost **_**milliseconds**_** to break the harness for his arms.)**


	33. The Screams of Forgotten Memories

Introverted

Chapter Thirty-Three

The Chuunin flak jacket was a dark green. It held pouches for various equipment, going from tightly packed steel wires, bundles of shuriken, small fist-sized kunai and larger ones. The longer pouches contained rations and medical pills, as well as various bandages, gauzes and morphine shots in a ratio varying accordingly to the Chuunin's classification as Administrative, Medical or Field assigned.

The Hokage handed over the flak jacket already packed, heavy as it was, to the recently minted Chuunin. Usually, during the ceremony, the Hokage would say something and the Chuunin would then reply with a pledge of loyalty towards Konoha. There was nothing else to say afterwards. Once a shinobi became a Chuunin, the mission assignment desk would assign C-ranks and B-ranks upon request, but only to a group of four of said rank.

Unless a Jounin was present, no group beneath four members could partake in any mission of B-rank.

The Shinobi bureau also assigned new, wider apartments in the shinobi blocks to the Chuunin who needed them, generally closer to the Administrative buildings or the Medical hospital of Konoha. Those didn't come packed with food however.

The Hokage smiled warmly as the three new Chuunin of Konoha strode in purposefully, their vests hiding their underneath clothes for the most part. Naruto had a black shirt, his hair once more raven and spiky. Sakura's own shirt was a deep crimson red, striped with black and dark orange —like the stripes of a tiger. Sai's clothing was unchanged.

"Very well," the Sandaime said as he nodded to Iruka Umino, sitting at his left. "As Chuunin of Konohagakure, you will now begin Elemental Chakra training. For that to happen, we must first find out what your affinity is."

The Chuunin slowly stood, taking three pieces of paper from the desk he was sitting at. He handed them over, one at the time, to the new Chuunin.

"The paper is chakra sensitive —after you have sent chakra into it, it will split if your nature is wind, burn if it is fire, become soggy if it's water, crumble if it's earth and crackle if it's lightning."

As soon as Iruka finished explaining, there was a small barely audible snap from Naruto's chakra paper, revealing wind. Sai's own burned, but he already knew what his affinity was after all. Sakura's paper combusted too, startling the pink haired girl who dropped it.

"Fire nature, two out of three," Iruka remarked. "And…wind Nature? It's extremely rare in Konoha," the Chuunin said slowly. "Well, guess your teammates are lucky to have you in the team, Naruto," the man said then with a slightly strained smile. "Try not to burn half the village while practicing together."

Sakura sported a tick mark. "What's that supposed to mean, huh?"

"Fire and Wind naturally help each other," the man remarked —not rising to the bait— "techniques that use both together are stronger, and Konoha has long kept up its tradition as the Fire Country's village by producing quite a rate of Fire Affinity shinobi…and quite few Wind Affinity ones. Sunagakure is the exact opposite, and that is also one of the reasons we are allied with them."

"The _Gōkakyū no Jutsu_ is the standard fire release we have all Chuunin learn," Hiruzen spoke then, carefully penning a document. "For wind instead, we have the _Shinkū Renpa_." He wrote down another document. "Head towards the library and deliver these to the librarian. Remember that no technique may leave the library at any one moment, and if found in possession of a technique scroll outside of it, the penalty is imprisonment for at least five months."

Iruka grabbed the scrolls, before offering them one at the time to the Chuunin. Two of them had a red seal to keep them closed, while the third had a light blue-ish one.

"Very well," the Sandaime said then. "You are dismissed."

"Hokage-sama," the three Chuunin stood to attention as one, before slowly turning and leaving.

Naruto's thoughts on what it meant to be a Wind affinity shinobi halted as he found himself bumping together with his team against another one.

The team was made of Shikamaru, Chouji and…_Ami_?

Their Jounin-sensei was the bearded son of the Hokage —Asuma Sarutobi, if Naruto remembered correctly— and he held a cigarette in his mouth as he walked behind his own team.

"Well," the Jounin was the first to break the silence, "I suppose congratulations are in order, then?"

"Thank you," Sakura properly replied with a light bow. Her eyes then moved towards Ami, a questioning look passing over her features.

"Exams are a fraud," Shikamaru drawled out slowly. "It's the sort-of polite thing all villages know and no village speak of."

"Indeed," Asuma huffed. "Well, we are late for a mission," the bearded Jounin rolled his eyes as he gestured to his team to move, but it was only with reluctance that Ami actually began to walk away.

The fact she gave one last look at Sakura's jacket with envy, before smirking at the sight of Sai and Naruto sent chills down Sakura's back.

"Neh, Naruto-kun?" Ami's voice was sultry as she slowly came to a halt. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Uh? Oh, yes?"

"What does it feel like, to be a blood-thirsty monster?"

Naruto's eyes widened briefly, before the chiding 'Ami!' came out of Asuma's mouth. Sakura clenched her fists.

"What? Sensei! He was laughing when he did that to poor Tenten-san, all that gouging and ripping…shouldn't he be leashed somewhere?"

"Ami," Shikamaru said slowly. "You don't want to keep talking."

"Why not? I mean, shouldn't he be kept in a cage for all that he did? Isn't he dangerous?"

Sakura's teeth were grounding one against the other. She wasn't going to hit her. She could kill her though, couldn't she? She would slowly open her mouth and bring her teeth near the girl's neckline, and then _she would rip off her neck and proceed to tear her head apart_. Yes, she could do that.

Or she could make it simpler and less messy —Naruto probably wouldn't like all that blood— she would just have to throw a kunai at her neck one night, while the girl went back home. The whore would bleed out in an instant in the back of a dirty alley, and maybe the rats would feast on her body.

She smiled _gingerly_ at the thought.

"Exactly because he's dangerous," Shikamaru replied calmly. "Do you really want him angry at you?"

Ami huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, giving one last look at Sakura's team. "Well, all right. It's not like his teammates are any better... What's up with that one anyway? Does he have a facial cramp or something? Although I suppose it is better than being _scarred for life_ to look like a Halloween monster."

Sakura flinched as her hand went to her neck wound, before she began to show her teeth in a slight growling noise. Sai moved his head to the side for a moment, locking eyes with Ami without saying a single word. He just gazed at her. The boy then took a single step forward and brought his right hand up to his chin.

There was silence once more.

"What?" Ami stuttered out. "What is it!?"

Sai said nothing.

"Creepy…" he slowly whispered. "She thinks she is alive, Dickless…"

"Wh-What!? Of course I'm alive!" Ami screeched. "I didn't die back there, did I!?"

"She's…she thinks she's alive," Sai murmured again. Suddenly, his right hand shot forth, passing through the girl's chest as if it wasn't there. "You're a ghost, girl," he deadpanned. "Go on, towards the light," he added then. "You are dead." A light appeared just behind Sai, illuminating everyone in a thin ethereal blanket of light blue.

"_I'M NOT DEAD!_" Ami screamed with her skin pale, running away from the light and down the corridor.

Asuma raised his right eyebrow slowly, looking at Sai. "Kurenai taught you, didn't she?"

"Indeed," Sai said, the Genjutsu used to scare away the brat calmly dispelled.

"Well…at least there wasn't any bloodshed."

Chouji kept on munching quietly, before slowly starting to walk towards the same direction Ami had taken. Shikamaru sighed, and soon followed too.

Asuma remained there for a moment more, before finally crossing his arms over his chest and smiling wistfully. "I'm sorry for them," he said. "They're still kids in the end."

"Of course," Sakura gritted out, a venomous smile on her face. "Of course," she nodded.

"Have you already been told of the passcodes to access the Chuunin lounge?"

"Yes," Sakura nodded once more with a thin smile. "It's on the third floor of the Tower, right?"

"Exactly," Asuma nodded. "Pass by the lounge sometime tonight: they're winging up a welcome party for you."

"Really?" Naruto asked, slightly perplexed.

"Chuunin are what form the bulk of Konoha's shinobi," Asuma shrugged. "You will probably remain a Chuunin for years —better to become friends than enemies with them, since you will eventually end up taking missions with other Chuunin rather than your team."

Sakura's eyes now looked downcast, as if a thin veil of misery had settled on her. "Anyway, good luck with the librarian," Asuma nodded towards them as a goodbye, before heading off towards his Genin.

The three Chuunin left the Tower then, Sakura huffing with her arms crossed over her chest and huffing. "Really, the nerves of that girl," she mumbled before letting her arms fall limply to her sides. "That was plain mean."

"Plain Stupid," Sai nodded.

"Wasn't she right, though?"

Naruto's question met with the sharp sound of a slap. Sakura's hand throbbed as the girl eyed him murderously. "Say it again, _I dare you_," she hissed at him. "Well?"

Naruto remained quiet. "Good," Sakura huffed. "What are your cheeks made of anyway?" she moved her offending hand up and down, as if to cool it off. "You're no more of a monster than we are, Naruto. I don't know what they all have against you anyway," she muttered. "I should watch the recordings of the fights."

Naruto just winced at that. "Oh, come on," Sakura sighed. "It won't change my opinion of you, Naruto…can't you trust me on this?"

"You shouldn't watch it alone," Sai quipped then. "You are probably going to wet yourself—"

"I'm not afraid of—"

"—watching him fight, and you'll be panting and sweating and—"

"_SHANNARO_!"

Sai was plunged deep in the ground, where he laid twitching for a moment. Sakura suddenly began to cough, bringing both her hands to her mouth as she felt Naruto's hand placed against her back, as he held her steady. The coughs soon subsided, letting the pink-haired kunoichi watch her hands with slightly watery eyes. She breathed once, to recollect herself, before standing back up as if nothing had happened.

Sakura then huffed, "Pervert, Pervert, double Pervert," she muttered. "I'll have to keep you on a short leash when we go with that Super Pervert," she growled. "I don't want to think what you can become unattended."

The library came into view a few minutes afterwards, a sign outside announcing the recordings of the Chuunin exams were available since a few days before —with their stay in the hospital, it wasn't much of a surprise they had already begun sharing them.

The librarian aid was an old woman with buns held together by hairpins, wearing a long flowing robe. "Oh, new Chuunin, right?" she looked them up and down for a moment, before finally nodding. "Go to the Chuunin section, and ask for Mitokado Homura. Hand over the permission scrolls to him and he'll take care of it."

She gestured towards a hallway further down the way, standing slightly hidden from view due to a couple of shelves placed at an angle to ensure nobody from the entrance of the library could see the passage.

"Ehm," Sakura hesitated as she slowly took a step forward. "I'd like a copy of the Chuunin matches."

The old woman raised an eyebrow at that. "Of course," she perused through a metallic drawer for a while, before taking out what looked like a thick bundle of cloth. "The tape is to be returned by the end of the week."

"Thank you, ma'am," Sakura nodded, before returning to her team and following them through the half-hidden passage towards the Chuunin section. In there, another counter was set in the far end of a slightly circular room, where bunches of Chuunin were hovering over piles of papers of various types and forms, muttering to themselves.

They passed by without even a glance in their direction until they reached the old man who had a pair of thick-rimmed glasses on his nose. The old shinobi had a scroll hanging loosely around his neck, with scribbles implying they could summon things forth, or at least that much was what Naruto saw at a glance.

"Yes?"

"Mitokado-san?" Sakura asked, bringing up her own scroll.

"Ah," the man remarked calmly with a knowing look. "Three fire-techniques?"

"I'm wind," Naruto said handing over his scroll, just as Sai gently left his on the counter.

"Very well," Homura nodded. He eyed Naruto for a moment more, before asking. "You are unlucky," he sighed. "To think Danzo is a wind user and has been assigned to the war front…a pity," the old man shook his head slightly.

"You know Danzo-sensei?"

"Oh? Right, I was one of his teammates during the war…that's how we know each other. He spoke fondly of you."

Naruto wearily eyed the old man with a slight amount of distrust, before settling for an awkward smile. "Ah…is that it? I see…I…I couldn't find him and I thought he…"

"Oh, don't worry," Homura shrugged, "He's tough and cranky: the enemy Nin won't even manage to scratch him."

The old shinobi grabbed three scrolls, two of which were identical with their back red, while the third one had a light cerulean colour to it. "Here you go: remember, you can't leave the room with the scrolls. Taking notes is fine, but they too cannot be brought outside."

There was an understanding nod from the three Chuunin then, as they grabbed their assigned scroll and went to sit down at a free table. Sakura was the first to open the scroll and start reading, soon followed by Sai. Naruto fidgeted for a bit, before finally giving in to pressure and doing the same thing.

"I could teach you that," the Kyuubi's voice suddenly assaulted his ears, making him jump slightly on his chair. "I could teach you about sealing, about Fire Techniques, about Wind Techniques…I could teach you everything you desire."

He closed his eyes for a moment, mouthing to himself a simple 'Shut up'.

"As you wish," Kurama merely replied with a smirk, his tails swishing in the giant cage.

There was a moment of silence, before Naruto began to grumble. "Ah…"

He closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them again to the pages. The words still looked alien to him, as if they were in another tongue. The fact that Sakura was simply nodding to herself, playing with a lock of her hair as if it was something extremely understandable, and Sai was acting impassively as always…it just made him feel _unfit_.

He was a Chuunin, but what did that mean?

Did that make him suddenly powerful? Was his rank something he had acquired through his skills or something the Kyuubi had given to him? Would he have won against Kurotsuchi on his own strength, or against Tenten? Would he have managed to win through all three of his opponents anyway, without the Nine Tailed fox intervening?

What was he, in the end, without the fox? Was he still _Naruto_?

He didn't know the answer to that question. His life without the fox would probably be easier, but then again that would mean that someone else would have to shoulder said burden. What if… what Sai or Sakura had ended up with the Kyuubi? What if the fox hadn't left his mother to begin with?

He'd still have his parents, wouldn't he?

He'd be loved. He wouldn't be settled with a team of dysfunctional individuals in which he was the most damaged —at least in his opinion.

An hours easily passed, before he was startled out of his thoughts by a voice familiar to him.

"Naruto?" Sakura's voice was low as she spoke. "Is there something you don't understand?"

Softly, he nodded his head back. "Well," the pink haired girl said calmly. "What's the problem?"

He frowned, before pointing at the first few lines of the scroll. "What does…Brachial equivalent of an intra-perpendicular jab followed by pharyngeal exhalation of chakra kneaded streams through multiple division and separation of wind spinning in counter…"

"Ah," Sakura said, slowly scuttling closer. "It means you have to hold your hand in front of your mouth, as if ready to stab it forward, while at the same time you must exhale from your throat chakra. The chakra must be divided into various…shapes," she was softly whispering, and close as she was Naruto could even smell her light perfume of…was it vanilla with an undertone of copper?

"While you must take the single…streams of chakra and make them spin one against the other," she finished softly, before her eyes —emerald orbs that they were— settled on his. They looked at one another in silence for a moment, the quiet breathing as they gazed into each other's face uninterrupted. Sakura slowly brought one of her locks behind her ear, biting on her lower lip as she seemed to be inwardly struggling about something.

"No orgies in the library."

Sai broke the moment.

Sakura's forehead sported a giant tick-mark.

Naruto exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding, as he moved back and back to his scroll. So basically…he just had to make the chakra in his throat do…some sort of spinning motion like with the rasengan? But one against the other.

The scroll was telling him to create two streams of chakra inside his body, have them conflict and then have them meld into a single jutsu then expelled from the mouth.

"Sai?" Sakura snarled slightly, "Can you step outside with me a moment?"

Sai complied, and Naruto —from his spot— could distinctively hear the sound of the ground trembling as if someone was repeatedly punching someone else against the ground.

Sakura returned with a droplet of blood against her chin, which she simply swept away with her right finger —before licking it off. "Sai's gone home for today," she smiled then. A positively twitchy smile that seemed to give a completely different story than what she was telling.

"Did you call a medic-nin for him?" Naruto asked carefully.

"Uh? Ah," Sakura blushed lightly. "I never _really_ hit him that strongly," she fidgeted with her fingers for a moment. "I'm not a violent person."

Naruto tried to keep an impassable face, but there was a slight twitch at the side of his face, which soon became a snort as the boy tried to hold in a chuckle. He shook his head with his lips twitching up in a smile, as he sighed in resignation and defeat. "Should we go somewhere, you and me?" he asked then.

"L-Like on a date?" Sakura stammered out, blushing even more.

Naruto frowned. "We should…talk about this outside, yes?"

He stood, rolling up his scroll and handing it back to Homura, who took it without as much as a second thought. Sakura followed him with both her scroll and that of Sai, coming out of the library a few minutes later with her hands holding on to the tape.

"Do you have a tape recorder at home?" he asked her, slowly.

She nodded, hesitantly. "Y-yeah, why? You want to…"

"We can watch that," he tapped on the Tournament video. "And then…then you can decide."

"Naruto, nothing that I will find in there will—"

"Just do it for me, all right?" he sighed. "Please?"

She relented. Nodding once, she began to walk towards her house, with Naruto following her this time around. She felt somewhat anxious: her parents hadn't yet come back from Otafuku Gai, and that meant she had taken care of the house in their absence. What if he ended up in her room and saw the way she had left the bed sheets? Or the dirty clothes in the laundry? Suddenly, she realized _Naruto_ was going to enter her house. She was going to let her packmate see her cave.

It was normal. She just had to breathe and remember that it was normal for packs to go around together and sleep in the cave together to stave off the cold. It was normal. Everything was going to be normal.

There they were —the porch was tidy and neat, perfect. She opened the door and gestured for him to come inside. "W-Welcome," she stammered out.

"Thank you," he softly whispered. She moved towards the living room, where the only tape recorder was in the house —she would have died of embarrassment, if it had been up in her room.

"Do you want something to drink?" she asked as she gestured for him to sit on the sofa. "There's…water, and milk. I could put up some tea if you like…"

"Sakura," Naruto murmured, "Just put the tape on and sit down…"

She hastily did so, taking her seat slightly distanced on the other extremity of the sofa. The television soon turned on, and as it began to whirr and click, the images appeared a second later.

"Welcome to the broadcast of the Chuunin Tournament, held in Konohagakure no Sato!" the voice of the announcer spoke clearly, just as there was a cut to the tournament grounds where Naruto could see himself standing in line. His eyes fixed on Tenten's form. The girl was smiling. She was waving her hand at the crowd and laughing, every now and then giving a small shoulder bump to her teammates to make them do the same.

She looked every bit as happy as he did normally when he was hanging out with his own teammates. She was an orphan as he was. She didn't have the Kyuubi in her stomach —she didn't have anything special, and held no fault but having placed a trap that Sakura hadn't dodged.

Why had he believed avenging such a wound meant killing that girl?

_Show no mercy._

Why? Why did he have to show no mercy!? Why did he have to listen to Danzo-sensei's words!? Clearly, the man hadn't really meant for him to kill her, had he?

The commenter saw the arrival of Sakura as 'surprisingly characteristic', before moving on to the first match that Sakura watched dispassionately.

"I couldn't let him hurt you or Sai," she whispered softly from her corner of the sofa. Her arms clasped around her knees as she was sitting crouched. "He was strong, really strong…And I know I could never beat him no matter how hard I trained…so I just had to bet everything on that move. I knew it would hurt afterwards, I knew it but…pain is a constant thing in the shinobi world."

Naruto remained quiet as the next match began. He had just a fuzzy recollection of what he had actually done with his body, as he wasn't actually fighting Tenten as much as fighting both the Kyuubi and his…dark self?

His body covered in red chakra with two tails swishing behind him, his entire appearance looked feral and demonic as he charged and literally won within the first minutes of the match.

"The Jinchuuriki of Konohagakure no Sato! Naruto Uzumaki! With complete control over his demon, he is the youngest host of the Jinchuuriki, and…I think I'm going to feel sick," the commenter wasn't the only one feeling sick. Naruto was too: he watched as his past-self tore apart the girl's lower limbs, her spine, her chest, her ribs, her organs…he watched him do all of that and…and keep her alive screaming. It was…

He heard the sound of Sakura running out of the room, heading upstairs.

Sighing, Naruto stopped the tape from going further and stood up. He moved towards the hallway, just in time to hear Sakura starting to retch in the bathroom. He clenched his fists. Wasn't this proof enough?

"Weapons aren't supposed to have anything," the Kyuubi remarked dryly. "Your _mother_ was pretty clear on that, oh she was! Did you know that in her mind, I couldn't even stretch my legs or play shogi? I was forced to remain tied to a circular table, with chains daily digging into my own body and she took from my chakra whenever she had a need for it," the fox growled. "Just leave, and forget this day ever happened…it will be better for both of you. Nobody _wants_ you Naruto: they only want _me_ in the end."

He shook his head. He wasn't going to listen to the Kyuubi…not yet.

He heard Sakura retch one more time, and because of that…he turned and left. If his very presence made the girl vomit, then why was he still insisting? He wasn't supposed to even try. There were regulations in place! There were laws to be followed!

As he dashed out and began to ran away, heading towards his apartment, he felt the sting of treacherous tears in the corner of his eyes. He wiped them away quickly…

That day, that specific day…hadn't happened.

It had _never_ happened.

Sakura was retching against the toilet seat.

Images assaulted her mind, not of Naruto tearing apart Tenten, no…but of carcasses. Animal carcasses _she ate raw to survive_. Their glassy eyes, their dead faces on the ground…she had been forced to shadow a _tiger_ pack. She remembered their pungent smells. She recalled the fear of failing at any moment and dying. If she didn't shadow them, if she didn't follow them…then the whore would sweep down from her hiding spot and attack her. She'd break a bone.

She'd snap a limb.

She'd cut a piece of cloth.

She'd punch her. She's make her eat dirt, hallucinogenic fungi and _things_. She had to follow the tigers, to act like them. She had to keep up with their strides, with their movements. She had to be wary of the biggest one, the Alpha. She had to…she had to eat their preys' remains.

The people who had died and remained behind —the ones belonging to old and past Chuunin exams taken in the forest— the tigers had eaten them already, but she found their tools— old and rusty— and pieces of fabric she could use to stem the blood from the animals of the forest lucky strikes at her.

If she didn't fight for survival, she would die. If she didn't fight for supremacy, she would die. It was the law of the jungle, of the might is right and of power…and it disgusted her.

She retched once more, her eyes closed as tears kept on falling down her face. She was a disgusting monster. She had been so hungry…the _cub_ had been out there alone. He had meat on his bones.

So what did it matter to a tiger-mother, if she went and ate a bit of the child? Nothing.

She had been careless, the tiger, and she had paid.

The price for being careless is death. The price for believing the world is happy is death. The price for thinking the world has only nice things? It is death. The price for failure? Death or pain.

The prize for success? Food. It was warm food, succulent to eat when hungry, which sizzles when the fat burns on the open fire, which can also let out droplets of blood that can be drunk warm to soothe your throat…

She puked one last time, before letting out a shuddering breath. She couldn't fall asleep there, with no-one standing guard. She needed to be somewhere _safe_. She needed to be with someone she trusted. She stumbled back up groggily, slamming open the door as she rolled down the stairs, hitting her head against the wooden planks and feeling the skin crack as blood began to dribble down her forehead.

It didn't matter.

She needed…she opened the door and stepped outside. She needed someone, _anyone_.

Sasuke was not a choice. Naruto had run away —no, he hadn't. He just…was somewhere else, wasn't he? No, he had run away.

Naruto had run away _from her_.

She had to find her sensei, she was the pack leader, right?

She would know what to do, wouldn't she?

Yugao Uzuki had been patiently waiting in her house for Hayate to come back from whatever mission the Hokage had assigned him within the village. Short of guarding the gates, he should have been home within a few minutes at most.

A rapid set of knocks suddenly assaulted her door, as her hearing caught the added sound of sniffles and choked cries, mixed with the word 'sensei'.

Yugao opened the door slowly first, but when she realized there wasn't a Genjutsu and it really _was_ Sakura crying in front of her door, she had no choice but to let her in. The girl stumbled forward, her forehead bleeding, before ending up held by Yugao's arms.

"Sakura!"

"He," she blurted out between wracked sobs and tears. "He _left_!" she actually wailed that aloud.

"Who?" Yugao said, suddenly on the alert. "Who left? To go _where_?"

"N-Naruto! I…I we watched the Chuunin exams and then he…he left…I…I don't know what to do and…"

"Sakura," Yugao said calmly. "Breathe."

The pink haired Kunoichi did so, just as the ex-Anbu began to think. If the Genin had tried to run away from Konoha, then after knocking out his teammate he would have gone towards the safest place for him. Kiri had just finished its revolution after all, and then there was Kumogakure or Iwagakure.

Her blood ran cold. In Anbu, turning traitor meant a death sentence —it didn't matter when you were found, you would be killed the moment you were recognized. She had a job to do however, and the crying wreck of her student didn't help her much.

"Where did he go? Did he tell you?" she asked then.

"No!" Sakura was trembling as she spoke. "I'm alone, he left me alone…like…like the forest, there was—" Hadn't Inoichi said something about this? "The blood and…"

"Sakura! Stay with me!" stick her to the present —that was what Inoichi had said to do. "Do you know if he is going to betray Konoha?"

"W-What?" Sakura's voice lowered itself to a low murmur. "Why would he do that?"

Yugao's heart stilled for a second. There was a heartbeat of silence. "Isn't Naruto trying to leave Konoha?"

"No!" the girl shook her head firmly. "He…he left my house without…without telling me."

"So…" Yugao suddenly felt the need to slam her head against the nearest wall. "He is not going to become rogue?"

"Naruto would never do that!" Sakura croaked out, her throat sore already from the crying. "He'd never…never do that," she whispered once more.

"So you are _crying_ because…he was rude and left without saying goodbye?"

Her voice was pitiful as her eyes went down to her fingers. "He…He was gone," she weakly said. "I…I don't like it when he's gone."

"I see," Yugao exhaled, putting her right hand over the girl's shoulder. What did one do with a student who had a crush? Oh, right.

"Then…why didn't you follow him?"

"Because…because I don't know where he lives, sensei," she whispered.

"I do," Yugao replied firmly. "Now however…" her eyes steeled themselves. "Sakura! This is unacceptable behaviour!" the girl stiffened to attention, her back ramrod straight.

"You are a kunoichi! You do not sniffle or sob because a man left you without saying goodbye! Act like a shinobi and if he leaves, then chase after him!" Yugao exclaimed firmly. "Now go out there, find your teammate and—"

"Talk with him calmly before asking why he left," Hayate Gekko remarked dryly as he entered from the doorway. "Really…Yugao, you find the most interesting ways of making _my_ life interesting," the man coughed slightly, shaking his head. "Patch her before she leaves and bleeds out along the way," he pointed out as he stepped past Sakura to give a quick kiss on the cheek to Yugao.

Yugao just looked at Hayate for a moment, before turning her gaze back on Sakura and nodding firmly. "Precisely, now come here and let's get you cleaned: you look a mess."

"I'm sorry, sensei," Sakura sniffled one last time…before a murderous glare from Yugao made her shut up completely.

"Don't be," she replied calmly —if with a bit of frost in her voice. "I actually expected something like _this_ to happen, but not at this time of the day."

"Sor—" the glare was enough to keep Sakura silent through her sensei's treatment.

With a bandage on her forehead, the green-eyed kunoichi left after bowing profusely to her teacher.

At the same time, atop the Yondaime's head, Naruto was nervously taking out from beneath the secret cache the kunai of his father, as well as preparing a plan to empty the cemetery of a particular tomb. If he ended up in the middle of the war, then he might never get another chance…and whatever supplies his father had, they'd serve him better now than later.

He'd have to apologize to Sakura…but he had warned her! He had told her not to watch, but now…now she was disgusted with him as everyone else. Only Sai, the Sandaime, the Super Pervert and sensei remained who weren't disgusted with him…and even then, for how long?

He had no-one who he could truly trust, did he? If even Sakura retched from seeing him…then…then what hope did he have?

None.

And in that pit of misery, in that dark and deep pit of darkness…the Kyuubi grinned and flicked its tails.

"You must fill that void with _love_," the Kyuubi mocked the voice near him, "_Really_? Well…then it comes to term that _misery and hatred_ stretches it, right?"

"You are a despicable abomination," the voice replied angrily. "He offered you an ear, and this is how you repay him! You…You atrocious monster!"

"So spoke the jailer, the executioner and the tyrant," the Kyuubi replied while yawning. "I'm enjoying this. Aren't you?"

"Never," the voice spat out.

"Now, now," Kurama rolled his eyes. "Mito-chan, you shouldn't act this way…it makes your skin wrinkle."

The Kyuubi laughed then, his voice reverberating across the empty halls.

Everything was going right. For once, maybe, he'd finally have his chance at revenge.

**Author's notes**

**I will reiterate one. **_**Last**_**. Time.**

**The Tags are Naruto. Sakura. **_**Sai**_**. Three tags. Not two. It is not a pairing story. It's a Team Story.**

**Please. **_**Please**_**. Stop asking about pairings. You have to read the **_**summary**_**, there is a big and easily readable 'No Pairings'. Please. Please…don't make me think there are people out there who can't read for 32 chapters what is written on the summary. Please, give me **_**hope**_** for the human race. **_**PLEASE**_**.**

**Ahem. That said, 'Misunderstandings ensued next' would probably be an apt title for this chapter. Then again…no, it would be stretching what is truly to come.**

*****_**Winter**_** is coming***

_**Angst**_** is coming.**

**Ps: Orochimaru isn't marching 'against' Nagato. He is going…in **_**that**_** direction. And he wears Akatsuki clothes…do you know how to make an army disappear gents? I do!**


	34. The Roughful Tragedy of Deceit and Lies

Introverted

Chapter Thirty-Four

The cemetery of Konoha was silent, so late at night. There were no fences or Chuunin guarding the tombs —since there really was nothing worthy of stealing— and because making noise would probably attract someone anyway.

If someone were to find him then, he'd have the excuse ready: he was reminiscing Aoba-sensei.

In the dark, the only lights available came from the big monument tucked away in a corner that represented the Will of Fire —a giant flame made of stone that held the symbol of Konohagakure no Sato at its centre. Beneath it, the names showed of those who had died during the war, giving their life for Konoha.

It was redundant to the smaller monument in training ground Seven, but then again he didn't even know who had commissioned that one built there.

Now, he just had to find the tomb.

_Rin _was not a common name. He doubted it would be easy to find her, even when knowing she had been a Genin underneath the Yondaime. His eyes settled on a set of tombs Kakashi usually visited, before shrugging and deciding that if he had to start examining tombs, he'd start with those ones.

He was right.

The first tomb belonged to a certain Obito Uchiha, who had apparently died during the third shinobi war. His eyes moved further down, looking towards the tomb at his right. He squinted his eyes to make sure the name was right —_Rin Nohara_— and once he was sure he slowly began to move his hands across the tombstone. There had to be a switch of sorts, a hole or something to place the Hiraishin kunai.

He found nothing. Was there a seal? He slowly took out the heavy three-pronged kunai from his flak jacket, carefully moving it in front and behind the tombstone. Was something supposed to happen?

He exhaled slowly. He really would have to dig his way through it.

Digging without tools was not difficult: any shinobi worth his salt knew to send small amounts of chakra to his fingers, and then use them to dig through the dirt. He had used the same principle when fighting against Rock Lee after all, and a good shinobi always covered the hole behind him as he dug.

The painful way of doing it required the usage of two hand-seals, the correct knowledge of the substitution technique and…the nerves to swallow down dirt.

The problem was that he didn't know how deep the cache was, and if he tried to substitute himself with it…it wouldn't do.

Substitution required _preparing_ an object by coating it in chakra. Chakra had a natural tendency of 'returning' to its origin, making it easier to 'substitute' by having the chakra 'link-up' with the other prepared object and then swap at the fastest speed possible. The opposite was also true —escaping from Rock Lee's clutches had required him to substitute with a Bunshin, which was nothing more than chakra after all.

But the object had to be made of a single element. It had to be a 'bag of earth' or a 'tree trunk', it couldn't be a bit of one and a bit of the other: chakra wouldn't coat in the same way organic and inorganic matter, and in the best case scenario the technique would fail.

He would have to dig his way through. He once more looked carefully around, and once he realized there was no one watching over him, he began to dig. It took him two minutes to dig himself beneath the ground, while leaving just a slight sheen of perturbed dirt above him. Carefully keeping his breathing low, his right hand finally stopped clawing the dirt as it touched something hard and metallic.

The problem now was opening the coffin, if it actually _was_ a coffin. This was supposed to be a military cache: difficult to find but easy to access once that happened. He gritted his teeth as he looked for a fissure to open the coffin —anything that could work similarly to it would be fine too. His fingers finally found what he was looking for, and with a feeling of elation, he moved the heavy kunai to the side of the metallic coffin.

There was a light click as a metal panel in the centre of the coffin gave way, precisely beneath Naruto's chest to keep the dirt out. He had to admit his father was an ingenious bastard —in that way, someone digging from above while trying to appear inconspicuous would not betray his position by forming a natural dwelling in the ground.

He couldn't actually _see_ what was in there, since it was dark —being beneath the ground and all— but he could move his free hand inside and slowly start to touch the objects within.

His fingers touched metal, pointed tips that belonged to barbed kunai and caltrops, blades made of chakra metal judging by how he could feel his chakra move easily through their surface, and finally… a few scrolls.

He gritted his teeth as he grabbed them, deciding to check on what was inside once he was out of there.

Three scrolls came out from within the metal basket. One had to be the Hiraishin, but the other two…maybe the Rasengan could be an option? If so…

He wondered what the third scroll was about, what techniques it could hold...maybe seals, judging by how the Yondaime had managed to keep the Kyuubi at bay?

He grumbled as he quickly put the three scrolls inside his flak jacket's pouches, before pushing once more with the three-pronged kunai the switch and closing the casket. Slowly turning around on himself, he began to dig his way out.

He emerged from the dirt to the night sky, before slowly getting to his feet and pressing back the dirt. He cleaned himself as much as he could with his hands, and then began to run away —he had gotten what he had come to get.

Naruto reached his apartment room without being interrupted, which wasn't much of a strange thing anyway: quite a number of shinobi usually returned home late, covered in dirt, after having exhausted themselves training and having fallen asleep on the training grounds. Not even the few Anbu he crossed along his path gave him more than a quick glance —a few actually waved at him, probably the same he used to wave at when he still lived in his old apartment.

It was as he softly landed in front of his door that he realized there was a form standing crouched against it. Sakura was there, asleep and with her arms around her legs and her head low. She sported a patch of cotton held with gauze on her forehead, and she was still wearing her Chuunin jacket —even though there were some small red stains on the side of it.

Why was she there to begin with?

He swallowed nervously as he looked around. He could enter from the window…but if he did that, then he'd be leaving her outside in the cold…and he didn't want that.

He gently lowered himself next to the girl, before whispering.

"Hey."

Sakura moaned, but remained quiet.

"Hey?" Naruto said once more.

Sakura's moan became slightly louder, as she seemed to shift on her position. "Sakura?" he said in a murmur.

"Five minutes mom," she whispered in her small voice. "Just…five…Naruto…"

"Sakura," Naruto coughed slightly. "I can't open the door with you here."

"Uh? Door? Ah!" her croaking voice signalled she was completely awake, as she was startled so much she jumped back on her feet and against the guard-rail on the other side of the outside corridor —every apartment complex built had the stairs outside, so that one could simply 'jump' in front of his door from the roofs.

"Naruto?" she whispered, looking at him for a moment more. "Naruto!" and then she _hugged_ him. Naruto actually groaned from the pressure, as the girl seemed keener on snapping his spine in half than actually hugging him. Her hands grabbed at his back like claws, as she kept on pulling him closer as if afraid he'd make a run for it.

"Naruto…" she whispered once more, this time with a contented sound. Naruto exhaled slowly, his eyes wide in disbelief. He didn't understand _what_ Sakura was doing…or _why_ she was doing it.

"Sakura? W-Why?"

"Why?" she whispered, slowly separating from him —albeit with reluctance. "Why did you leave?"

Both of Naruto's eyebrows rose up in shock. "B-but you were di…disgusted with what you saw, I mean, you went upstairs and—" as he stammered that out, Sakura moved her head to the side in perplexity.

"I…I wasn't," she whispered back softly. "I just…I remembered something else which was…worse," she shuddered, and instead of hugging _herself_, she pulled Naruto into a bone-crunching hug once more. "It was scary, what I remembered was…scary."

"S-Sakura?" Naruto hesitated, as he really didn't know what to do. "Do you want to come in?" he finally whispered.

She hummed what was probably an affirmative reply, as she let her head drop against his shoulder. "Carry me?" she _giggled_. That…that was _creepy_.

"Sakura?" he was bewildered by her question, especially when she simply linked her arms against his neck and deftly circled around him —ending up on his back with her legs firmly crossed in front of him. "Ehi! Wh-What are you doing!?"

"Carry me," she whined now, as if she was a child. "It's late, and I'm _tired_." She yawned then, nuzzling the back of his neck with her nose —which just sent Naruto to shudder and stand ramrod straight from surprise.

He sighed in defeat as he slowly took out the key to his apartment, opening it and taking firm steps inside. Sakura didn't seem to want to let go even once he closed the door behind him. "Do you want to talk?"

"Sleepy…" she murmured. "Sleep."

"You can't sleep on my back," he retorted.

The door closed, he turned to look at his new apartment. It still had a few boxes to place inside —his personal effects— but for the rest, it came already furnished. The Chuunin rank had quite the bit of benefits concerning the house: it no longer was a one-room apartment, but held multiple areas. There was a kitchenette in the corner of the room, but there also was a television and a couple of chairs on the other side complete with a sofa and a carpet.

The apartment had a private bathroom with a shower, a sleeping room and a cramped 'office' room. The sofa could double as a guest bed in a pinch, and there actually was the chance to swap the office room with a child's one…in case of Chuunin couples.

He sighed as he slowly stumbled his way towards his bed —he'd drop Sakura there and he'd take the sofa.

"Earthy," Sakura muttered as Naruto shivered once more: why was she nuzzling the side of his neck now!? "Burrow."

"My neck isn't a burrow, Sakura," Naruto said with a slight nervous chuckle. "Wouldn't you prefer a bed? Eh?"

"Burrow," she mumbled firmly, increasing her hold over his flak jacket. There really wasn't a choice, was there?

With a sigh, he slowly sat on the edge of the bed and unclasped his Chuunin vest, letting Sakura gently fall down while the girl still hugged it. He swiftly removed the three scrolls he had pilfered from the cemetery from the pockets, and then slowly tip-toed out of the room and towards the 'office'.

He'd have a look at the scrolls before anything else. The office had a desk and a chair, as well as a small overhanging light bulb and a shelf encased in the wall.

Quietly, he unclasped the scrolls and read the title of the techniques.

As he had guessed, one was the Hiraishin and the other was the Rasengan.

It was the third one that stumped him.

"_Shishō Fūin_," he whispered. The four symbols seal was a Fuinjutsu technique that belonged to the Uzumaki clan. Believing the scroll _anything_ ranging from giants to evil spirits, passing by objects and living beings…could be sealed inside one of these to be released once the appropriate 'key' was given.

In fact, creating a key was a core element of the technique itself. The technique was…it was…

It was extremely dangerous and worth _destroying an entire country for it_.

It didn't matter who you were, it didn't matter how strong you could be, it didn't even matter what army you had at your command…when this seal was executed…it consumed. It devoured. It engulfed…and it trapped. Once written, it took chakra to initiate it of course but after that…it self-completed itself.

It was…there were no words to describe it properly. People would kill for that more than they would for the Hiraishin. One brush stroke was all that it took…and a mountain was _gone forever_. Scribbling chakra-infused ink on a parchment was all that the user needed to trap an enemy shinobi. Skirmishes became literal games of _tag_, rather than actual fights.

Of course, there was a need for a strong vessel to hold the being in question —if it was a _living_ creature that was sealed. Something about the 'natural destabilizing chakra effects on seals' forced the vessel to deteriorate with time the more chakra ran through it that was foreign, and in some cases the usage was…

The usage was…

"You." Naruto growled. "You damn, _motherfucking_, _**bastard**_."

There was silence in the office as chakra began to ripple around Naruto's frame.

"You don't get to ignore me now, you sack of shit," he cussed. "You whoreson of a whorish bastard, you treacherous hellish spawn of hell, answer me!" he growled.

"I always loathed Minato's contingency planning," the fox remarked calmly. "I truly think I am starting to hate your father more than I hate your ancestor."

"Using your chakra _shortens my life_," Naruto hissed. "When were you planning on telling me this? Huh?"

"Never, of course," the Kyuubi replied —no need hiding it, it was in plain air now after all.

"How many years?" Naruto whispered. "How many years did you take?"

"I? I didn't take any years…you needed chakra, and I provided it. You accepted it…so you have only yourself to blame."

"Answer my question!" he hissed.

"Oh, very well," the Kyuubi rolled his eyes. "Give or take, _ninety_."

"W-What?" Naruto's disbelief was visible, as he nearly choked on his own salvia. "Ninety years? No, you're lying to me; you can't have taken ninety-years out of me!"

"Uzumaki possess a special chakra," Kurama replied calmly. "It is naturally strong and infused with a certain…shall we call it 'Yin-Yang' component? Well…why else do you think only an Uzumaki can hold me? Because my chakra, by its very nature… it is _caustic_ and deadly, too strong for you mortals to withstand. Only Uzumaki can wield it. Technically one has to wonder why Uzushiogakure did not demand to keep the Kyuubi as _their_ Jinchuuriki, but maybe they did? Who knows…"

"You're lying."

"Then ignore my words," Kurama replied without a hint of worry. "One lie does not negate all the truths I have given you, does it? And if it does…well, what a poor and pitiful man you are going to become if you can't trust someone who saved your life repeatedly."

"You were taking my lifespan!" his right fist hit against the wooden desk. "Don't spin what you did around!"

"You would have died without my help," the Kyuubi replied. "And as deceased…well, your _lifespan_ would be meaningless in death, right?"

"How long will I live?" he finally asked, his voice trembling.

"Uzumaki are naturally long-lived," the Kyuubi snorted. "Your whore of an ancestor survived more than one hundred and twenty years…you'll probably reach your thirties, that is…if you stop using my chakra completely." It was then that a small smile settled on Kurama's face, at least from what Naruto could imagine.

"But!" here the fox sing-sung, "_Guess what your father did!_"

Naruto's body soon wracked itself in pain, as he clutched at his chest. "Exactly," the fox whispered with glee. "He did not close the seal completely," Kurama chuckled. "He wanted my chakra to flow in you, he wanted my power to be at _your_ disposal, and he wanted you to take _my_ chakra for yourself…but guess what? You are _weak_. _You don't have what it takes to control my power! You're nothing more than a mere fragment of my hatred!_"

"Shut up," Naruto snarled. He felt like he was pushing away with his head a mass of thick and heavy gel from his own body. He could feel his head pulse from the migraine that was settling in as his hands were digging with their nails on his palms.

"_Shut_. _Up_," he murmured once more. "_**I'm. Not. Listening. To. You**_!"

"Very well," the Kyuubi said as the pain subsided abruptly. "You have failed me the last time, Naruto," the fox remarked. "Henceforth…save yourself, your teammates, your friends…save them _alone_."

Naruto coughed next, exhaling and shuddering slowly.

He weakly stood up and moved to the kitchen, to open the fridge and get something to drink to wash away the foul taste of…of something that made his throat parched up.

He drank half a bottle of milk before he headed to take his shower, letting the warm water soak his bones and thoroughly wash his body from the dirt. Once he was clean, he settled the small frog-cap on his hair and went to sleep on the sofa without even opening it to get the bed ready. Hastily, he grabbed a bed sheet from the drawer and wrapped it around himself as he did when he was little.

If he hid beneath the blankets, the bad men wouldn't be able to find him —and if he remained still and motionless, they wouldn't come in from the window and scare him. How could he drape a blanket over his own skin, however? How could he hide from something that was _beneath_ the blankets, rather than above them?

He didn't know when he fell asleep. He just knew that when he woke up, there was a pair of striking green eyes _staring_ at him from the side of the sofa, and the soft smell of his shampoo coming from the owner of said eyes' pink hair. Sakura looked slightly affronted, more like 'pissed' as she held her eyes slightly narrowed on him.

"You left again," she accused.

"I didn't," he replied.

"You weren't there," she said firmly.

"I was in the next room," he defended himself. "We are _not_ sleeping together," he added then.

"Tigers do sleep together all the time in their burrow," Sakura replied as if it was common knowledge. "This is your burrow, right?"

"It's a house, assigned by the Hokage," he replied as he tried to stand up, only for both of Sakura's hands to push him down as she placed them on his chest. "Hey!"

"No, you are _not_ leaving again," Sakura said sternly. "Sensei said _we_ had to _talk_." She slowly moved herself above him, putting her knees against his stomach rather than just straddling him —for which he actually was thankful. "So we talk."

"About what?" he weakly asked.

"You scare me," she said, "Not with the exam, not with the Kyuubi, not with what you do…but when you leave and look at me with those eyes of yours," her right hand went up, to grab a lock of his raven hair whose root was already blond again. "Those sad, sad eyes of yours," she whispered. "I can't stand that," she said then. "And you leave, you always leave…without telling anyone," she added, "You have to tell us where you go, Naruto. I was scared because you didn't tell me."

"Sakura, are _you_ all right?" he finally asked, because right there and then she didn't look at all _sane_.

"I'm fine," she huffed as she slowly stretched like a cat, her hands holding onto his shoulders as she did so. She smiled then and growled playfully, before moving her teeth down to _bite_ Naruto on the _neck_.

"HEY!" he exclaimed, pushing her away. Sakura actually _laughed_ at that, standing crouched and with a playful attitude on her face as she looked at him with a wicked grin. "No biting."

"Why not?" she asked back puzzled. "Do we have to go somewhere today?"

"No, but—"

"Let's play then!" she exclaimed happily, tackling him and making him fall on the ground. She rolled with him on the floor for a while, painfully aware that her laughter sounded distorted and _weak_ compared to her normal voice.

"Ehi, wait, wait! Don't you want breakfast!?"

Sakura stopped, her arm still circling around Naruto's neck as she was standing halfway on his back and with her left knee on the floor —as if she was trying to climb on his back once more.

"All right," she said with a nod and a beaming smile as she quickly stood up, before beginning to look around the kitchen for the plates and the kitchenware.

Naruto exhaled out in relief and wiped away the sweat on his forehead. Just _what_ was going on with Sakura? She looked…_playfully like a cat_, to say the least.

Was this…was this a consequence of her training?

His mood darkened considerably the next moment. He had sworn he would find who had done this to her hadn't he? And once he did…he would make that person _pay_.

He began breakfast by chopping the vegetables and placing the oil to fry the rice, while he skilfully began to clean the fish. He actually swatted away with the back of a wooden spoon Sakura's hand, which had been creeping towards the still raw fish with a hungry gaze on her.

The fact he was imagining her with cat-ears and a cat's tail wasn't actually helping his concentration, but he did manage to prepare a decent breakfast.

"Sakura!" he exclaimed in mock-desperation. "What's gotten into you?"

Sakura stilled for a moment wide-eyed, before she slowly slumped her shoulders and sat down at the table. Now she was brooding, which was _perfect_ because Naruto now understood even less what was going on.

"Tigers play with one another," she weakly whispered, badly hiding her sniffling. "It shows friendship."

"We aren't tigers," Naruto replied feeling horrible. "We're shinobi. We banter with one another, like…me and Sai, or we talk about the weather and random things…or we plan contingencies for bad stuff that might happen…you know, that's what we do."

"Yeah, you're right Naruto," she wistfully murmured. "That's what we do, right?"

"Yes," he nodded. "Now…do you feel better?"

"Yes!" she nodded firmly. "Let's eat!"

Naruto sighed and began to eat, his eyes every now and then gazing to the door and then to the window as he did so.

"You left some scrolls open in the office," Sakura suddenly said from the other side of the table —those words froze Naruto on the spot. "I rolled them up and placed them on the self," she added then as an afterthought. "Really, how disorganized can you be?"

"Ah, I'm sorry?"

She huffed, showing her displeasure. "And even with cooking…what is this? It's slightly charred."

Wait, what was she being nit-picky with food to begin with?

"And the vegetables are cut in wrong chunks," she murmured once more. Naruto raised an eyebrow —there _had_ to be a reason for her suddenly finding everything wrong with the food.

"It's decided," Sakura nodded to herself. "You can't cook, so you'd better learn it since it's a good to have shinobi skill," she hesitantly glanced to the side. "They teach cooking in kunoichi classes, so I know how to cook…I'll teach you," was there a blush now? "My house is bigger than this apartment and the fridge's full. So…as repayment for breakfast even if it wasn't great…we can eat lunch there?"

Naruto just brought his right hand to his face and _sighed_. He deeply exhaled the air he was holding in his lungs, before finally just…nodding and giving in.

"All right!" Sakura croaked out before _actually_ _fist pumping_ in the air her success. "We can invite Sai too, and then we can train on the techniques. I memorized the scrolls anyway."

Naruto blinked. "You what?"

"I memorized the scrolls," she repeated slowly. "I always passed my exams because I'm good at memorizing stuff."

"I see…"

"Even yours, Naruto," she rolled her eyes.

"But you barely skimped through it!"

She gave him a simple look, before smiling brightly. "Of course not, I was reading it as you read it the first time," she smiled sweetly. "You weren't even bothering to look around you, so I peeked at it."

Naruto groaned. "Really?"

"Yep!"

The raven-haired boy shook his head. "_Really_."

They began to laugh after that, and truly…that was such a wonderful moment…

A pity it would not last forever.

Two days afterwards, their team was standing at attention in front of Jiraiya of the Sannin. He had returned from his scouting missions, and after having reported to the Hokage had immediately rounded them up.

"Very well," he said calmly. "Do you know the elemental technique I asked you to learn?"

The three Chuunin nodded as one, as Naruto stepped forward to demonstrate first.

"It won't be needed," Jiraiya raised his hand to stop him. "We will be moving at a forced march at least until we reach the land of Rice Fields." He turned to give a cold and calculative gaze to the rest of the team. "Whatever happens, we must strive to avoid detection from the moment we step outside the village. You will not bring aid to people in need, you will not reveal yourself and you will not, under any circumstance, break out of the shadows offered by the trees. Understood?"

"Yes, Taichou," Yugao said first, standing firmly to attention.

"Very well," Jiraiya nodded. "Now," he turned to leave. "_Follow me_."

The three Chuunin and their sensei did just that, following the Sannin as they left Konoha and took to the treetops, the shadows keeping them hidden as they moved. They were on a mission after all…their first B-rank mission.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was sitting still with his back against the walls of his house. The house he had shared with his parents and his…his brother. The house, which now was devoid of life.

There was a crash. Well, devoid of _Uchiha_ life.

The Chuunin assigned to make sure he would survive in his blindness was Hana Inuzuka. Apparently, since they relied on their noses and other senses, blindness was not much of a problem for the dog users of Konoha. It was that or the Aburame, and he clearly did not want insects crawling around —he wouldn't stop scratching his skin.

There had been some talk about 'the dogs would help with pet therapy' but he had no idea what type of therapy an ugly mutt could provide.

Really, he was doing this because he had no other choice.

"Ehi, Uchiha!" the girl had the same gallivanting tone as her brother, if not even fiercer and far more annoying. "Where's the food in here?"

"Third cupboard," he drawled out from his spot. He felt a wet nuzzle against his thigh, before the panting of a dog reached his ears. Perfect, one of the dogs of the Inuzuka was now asking him to pet his head. He refused. He wasn't going to pet any dog's head, no matter what —was the dog actually pushing his head against his hand? That didn't count as petting!

"Inuzuka," he said dryly. "Can you take your mutt away from me? He's annoying."

There was the sound of a hurt dog, one of those whimpers the beasts did when wounded or crying…their consistent whining was something he didn't like at all.

"Oh, come on Uchiha. Just pet him! You won't lose your hand and you know, it might make you less of a stick in the mud!"

"No," he said gritting his teeth. "I won't."

The whining was there again. The problem with the dog —or dogs, since he could swear there was more than one gallivanting around— was that he was a Ninja dog. He could dodge, and since Sasuke was blind…well, there was no way he could actually hit him.

"Then he'll keep on trying. Come on boy, don't sulk…I know he's a frowning little asshole, but hey…we can always train him with the squirt bottle."

"Why don't you do so then?" Sasuke snapped angrily.

"I was talking with the dog, Uchiha. Not everything revolves around you, you know?"

Sasuke just frowned. He would have glared at the Inuzuka but…he didn't have his eyes to do so.

"You know what pisses me off?" Hana suddenly said. "It's the way you lost your eyes. Really, how stupid do you have to be to believe in a stranger offering you power like that for no reason? How much of an imbecile do you have to be to say yes? I would have gone to the Hokage. I would have questioned the Chuunin. You didn't even ask your sensei. Just where is your loyalty to Konoha, uh? Where are the bonds with your teammates? You're with Kiba: he wouldn't have been that stupid either and he _**IS**_ stupid."

There was a moment of silence. "He is certified stupid, actually. I think the only reason he passed the exams was because me and mom drilled him…"

"Mom and I," Sasuke sourly interrupted.

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway! That was stupid. Stupid and…well, the Hokage could have left you alone you know? He didn't and he asked my mom for help. We could have said no, and you know there are days where I can't help but watch you and expect some change. Anything different from the usual 'I'm pissed, I'm sour, please shut up and let me die in a corner' would be nice."

"How would you feel if—"

"I'd feel angry, for the first years," she snapped back. "I'd probably swear revenge. I would not accept a closed-box offer from someone I don't know concerning a power I know not how it works! There's a difference between planning for revenge and burning oneself up! And the latter case usually leads to death, not to avenging!"

"Tsk. You'll never know what I feel."

"No, you're right," Hana sighed. "It doesn't mean I can't try and understand it. Look kid," she said then. "You're still young. You have your life ahead of you. Find something else you like to do —you're an Uchiha, you're filthy rich— and do it. I'm here as your over-glorified suicide guard and medical assistant. I offered to teach you how to move without eyes and you shot me down. I ain't asking you again: you want to learn, now I want you to beg me for it."

"Never," he snarled. "I didn't ask for you!"

"No, but there are still people who care about people like you: the Sandaime takes cares even if you don't want him too. Your sensei comes by daily to ask me how you are, and yet you just…stay there and sulk. You don't even drink the water in the cup!"

"Your dog laps it."

"_Because you leave it on the ground_."

"Not my fault: there weren't dogs here when I still had my eyes."

"Oh for the love of Kami, you're insufferable…but no, I'm not leaving you."

"Eventually you will have to," he shot back. "The Hokage's charity will end soon."

"Ah…you'll be surprised just what being an Uchiha means in Konoha: you're like…nobility. There are people who are already donating to the 'Keep alive the last Uchiha' bank account. The medics hope to find a cure to your sterility and get you on a nice 'produce Uchiha' mode. You'll then live the rest of your life as a reproduction horse but hey…considering you're a dick then I suppose it's fitting."

"Shut up!" he snarled in her direction, or what he hoped was the right direction.

"Why? Because I'm not kissing your ass? You're an hypocrite. You rebuke those who venerate you as fan-girls and you ignore those who try to help you without venerating the ground you walk on. You're a little ball of anger and frankly? You're not cute at all. I don't know what those girls of your 'fanclub' see in you, but really…you're ugly as hell."

"Shut. Up!"

"Nope," Hana's voice now filled with a teasing tone. "And you can't make me, because you can't even find me. You aren't even thinking this through properly! You could learn and then force me to remain quiet…but you don't, because of course you aren't even able to swallow your pride. What is it, too big for you to handle?"

Sasuke clenched his fists, his entire body shuddering in rage as he tried to breathe slowly.

He couldn't let the girl win.

He had to show her that the Uchiha were not weak. That he was worth ten times an Inuzuka.

"I…I can swallow my pride when I want to."

"Yeah? Prove it."

"I…" he licked his lips hesitantly. "I…would like to…learn."

"Huh? Can't hear you."

"Teach me," he ground his teeth. "Please, teach me."

"Still can't hear you. There's this buzzing noise…"

"Please teach me how to live without eyes!" he finally snapped out.

"You could work on your presentation," Hana chuckled. He could feel her move closer, even if he had no idea from which side. Suddenly, his hair felt ruffled from behind him. "But for a first time swallowing your pride? It's passable. Now…the first thing you need to know…"

As Hana Inuzuka began instructing Sasuke Uchiha, elsewhere a red haired girl sighed and looked to the sky.

"Why me?" Karin whispered, standing in front of one of Orochimaru-sama's security prisons. "Well…orders are orders."

And with those words she marched inside…

…to free all the lab rats, and let them go throughout the land of Rice to ravage and destroy it.

For what purpose…she had no idea.

But Orochimaru-sama's will was there to be followed, because he knew what had to be done…and disobeying him, well…nobody was that stupid.

She wondered if she'd ever see Naruto again though: he had been a brief moment of fun in her life —even if she had poisoned his teammates afterwards. And so she wondered about life and death, and rotten experiments especially, as she opened the cages and left.

The monsters were free to roam now.

_She_ had freed them all.

**Author's notes**

**I am a horrible teaser. The best revenge is served cold. **

**You see Sasuke. You see Karin. You glimpse Orochimaru. You watch mainly Naruto and Sakura fluff so you can suffer when I kill Naruto off. (I'm lying…maybe).**

**I probably melted some hearts with the fluff, didn't I? And then you think back and you realize she is acting like a sort of tiger because Anko mind-broke her, and you stop thinking happy thoughts.**

**She even ate a tiger cub! Cannibalism, I say.**

**Now, I was actually thinking for the Shippuden part…it's coming. Not immediately, because I wanted to do the bit with the Fuma Clan (Sort of, it won't follow the anime side at all but hey, the characters were **_**deliciously**_** there to be used) and well…**

**Big reveal coming right up.**


	35. The Prowling Pace of Darkness

Introverted

Chapter Thirty-Five

The plains and the forest of Konoha were a beautiful verdant color as the five shinobi dashed across the treetops and the wooden branches that were the highway all ninja used to move unseen by the general population. At the head of the formation, the white haired Jiraiya of the three Sannin looked every now and then back to his team –especially Naruto.

The boy was worried. He was showing all the signs of someone half-expecting something bad to happen immediately, and that didn't bode well to him. He had been there –hidden but still there– when the brat had fought in the arena. Actually, the Anbu had believed him hiding to be the problem –they had run like chickens trying to actually 'find' where he was.

"Brat!" Jiraiya exclaimed, earning himself the attention of the twin cerulean orbs that so much reminded him of his former student and also…well, a growl from the pink-haired girl who seemed keen on taking every word he said as either an insult or an attempt at corrupting her teammates.

"Yes, Jiraiya-sama?"

"Ever had the need to scream dattebane?"

The sudden question stomped Naruto, whose eyes widened briefly at the word before settling back to their normal pensive glaze. "No."

"Uh," Jiraiya mused, "You're definitively like your father then. You even have the same eyes when you think about something moody. Planning to confess and be rejected?"

"No," Naruto exhaled, shaking his head and twisting his body half-way in mid-air to avoid a treacherous branch. "I'm not."

"Dickless has a harem," Sai quipped in. "He doesn't need to confess…he has the Dickless magnetism to help him get the girls on him."

"Dickless magnetism?" Jiraiya asked perplexed. "Nah, it's the eyes and the hair. Well, in his case not the hair."

"He has beautiful eyes," Sai nodded back.

There was a heartbeat of silence.

"I never said that," the pale skinned boy said then. "Understood?"

"Pervert," Sakura scoffed. "Extreme Pervert."

"Yes Cherry, Kinky Cherry?"

"So what, I'm Lord, Harem Lord?" Naruto asked stifling a chuckle.

"Well then I'm Super, Super Pervert," Jiraiya said.

Yugao Uzuki remained quiet for a moment. She knew this was like the usual banter between Anbu to ensure the proper bonding of the teammates for the mission. She had to remember these weren't Genin anymore, but shinobi. She had to act like that, and thus…

"I'm Cat, Purple Cat."

"So we're the team Pervert Cherry, Lord Super Cat?" Naruto asked befuddled.

"Lord Super Cat is a Pervert Cherry," Sakura quipped back.

"Lord Super Pervert loves the Cat's Cherry," Sai said in monotone.

There was another moment of silence.

"Uh-uh," Jiraiya began to giggle madly. "The inspiration!"

"Jiraiya-sama," Yugao Uzuki said calmly. "_Don't_."

"Aw," the white haired Sannin pouted. Mentally, he began thinking about Zugao Zuzuki, the neko-girl who loved her master's brushes.

"He's having lewd thoughts," Sakura said firmly. "Can I castrate him?"

"Sakura, no," Sai said. "There are fifty methods to torture someone with a Dick. There are only forty-four without."

"I don't even want to know how you know that," Sakura replied without missing a beat. "But you know? I want to learn them."

"Well, since you're asking," Sai remarked. "The first method requires barbed wire and– "

"Silence!" Jiraiya's sudden exclamation cut Sai short, as the five shinobi stilled atop a tree.

Beneath them, near the road, a group of four strange misshapen humans were currently beating down a merchant, while a woman was screaming as a fifth of those monsters was tearing through her clothes.

"Send a message to the local patrol," Jiraiya whispered to Sai. "They're two miles east from here. Tell them 'Red Five, Orange Two'."

The boy complied, uncaring of the strange code delivered that he had to send. An ink eagle soon flew towards East, as Jiraiya nodded to himself. "We march on."

The screams of the woman continued even as they left her behind.

"Couldn't we…" Sakura's meek voice was met with a firm reply from Jiraiya.

"No."

"But…"

"We have our mission parameters."

"They are…"

"And it doesn't matter. Our mission is more important, and if they belonged to Otogakure and one of them survived and went back, it would have destroyed our secrecy."

"They are going to rape that woman!" Sakura seethed. "And we are going to stand by and do nothing!?"

"Sakura," Yugao spoke firmly. "We have our mission."

"B-But…"

"Sakura," Naruto whispered then. "The patrol will arrive in time, but we can't risk failing this mission. There's a war going on…we can't hesitate."

"The shinobi who cannot school his heart will die," Jiraiya quipped. "Personally? I think it's bullshit, but when a mission is important…I can see the importance of it."

"It's not…fine," Sakura murmured back. "I just hope…my parents made it back alive."

"They'll be fine," Naruto remarked. "They'll be–"

"They're dead," the Kyuubi said calmly.

"I'm not listening to you," he retorted angrily to the fox.

"They're dead," the Nine tails fox deadpanned. "Why don't you tell her that?"

"You are lying and this conversation is over," Naruto hissed through his teeth. He missed a branch from the fox's distraction, ending up having to use his arms to hold onto a lower branch and use the momentum to swing himself back on top.

"Try and avoid falling, Naruto," Jiraiya chided him. "If someone saw you, we'd have to silence him."

"Sorry," he replied. The rest of the trip went by in silence, as they barely stopped to catch their breath for five minutes before starting to run once more. They were forcefully marching miles and miles without repose, so much that by the end of the third day, the three Chuunin were covered in dirt and leaves, and smelled like resin.

"I think Sakura's about to drop," Yugao said standing to the side of Jiraiya. "They went on for three days with little rest."

"The average for Jounin is two weeks," Jiraiya replied. "They can hold for another day."

"Jiraiya-sama," Yugao murmured. "Is there something in the mission scroll I was not told?"

"Affirmative," the white haired Sannin said. "But you don't have the clearance for it."

"I have Anbu-clearance, Jiraiya-sama," Yugao replied. "So it has to be an S-rank secret."

"Precisely, Cat-chan," he giggled as a slight dribble of blood fell from his nose. "Oh you naughty cat," he giggled again. Yugao raised an eyebrow, was he day-dreaming while running?

No, he was probably trying to avert the conversation from going further.

She slowed down slightly, letting him pass her by as she reached her team. Sakura was sweating, her hair stuck to her face and her body trembling from the effort to jump. "Sakura? You should take a soldier pill," Yugao remarked.

"I can do, sensei," Sakura ground out through her teeth. "I can do."

"Being stubborn is not a sign of a good ninja. I'm your sensei and this is an order from a superior on the field: take a pill."

Sakura looked about to retort, but she didn't speak. She just nodded abruptly and hissed as she grabbed one from her Chuunin vest, before biting it down. She stopped trembling a moment later, but her face betrayed what she really was thinking about it all.

"Sakura," Yugao exhaled. "You are not weak because you took a pill first," she replied. "Naruto has the Kyuubi, and his stamina is off the chart: he could run around for five days when he was a kid without sleeping…and I know because I was sometimes assigned to keeping an eye out on him."

Sakura didn't speak.

"And Sai…Sai's got his own reasons. He's been trained since birth. If you had been in any other group of your peers, you would have been the last to take one. It's just…the circumstances. Don't take it to heart, understood?"

"Yes, sensei."

"Good," then the purple haired woman sped up to stand between Jiraiya and her team.

Sakura closed her eyes for a moment, before taking a deep breath and slapping both of her cheeks with her hands. She could do this. Talking with Yugao-sensei had made her remember something, and now was better than never.

"Neh, Naruto?" she whispered. "Can I ask you a question?"

Naruto flinched slightly, as if there was something he was afraid of in Sakura's voice. "Yeah?"

"Why did you change?"

"Eh?" Naruto was puzzled. He brought up his right eyebrow as he looked at his teammate, not understanding at all the question.

"You were…happy once," she said then. "You jumped, you made the class laugh, you…you changed then. Why?"

"That's…" he exhaled. "Can we speak about this later?"

"Will you answer me?" she said then. "You won't run away, right?"

"I promise," Naruto nodded. "I won't run away."

She returned to look ahead, and Naruto's spirit just dropped. The Kyuubi had to be lying. There was no way Sakura's parents were dead. How could he know? He was the source of malice, not of 'dead people'.

But maybe he had felt the malice from the brigands who had attacked her family? Maybe…He swallowed nervously. He had kept quiet until then…he would keep it up. There was no reason to make Sakura suffer so early, and with six month or more of mission time, she would be more stable further down the road.

They finally camped in the nook of wide enough trees to hide them with their thick canopies, just before the forest began to grow thin and leave the place to rice fields. "We pause for four hours, and then we proceed once more." Jiraiya said firmly. "Scatter and scavenge."

Those words said, the three Chuunin acted like one as they dashed beneath the tree, looking around for edible stuff to eat. Sakura was actually the first to return with food —a dead bird that had been consequently flash-cooked, a handful of mushrooms and a mouthful of herbs. Sai was next, with a fish and half a dozen of eggs from some nearby bird nests.

Naruto returned last, after an hour had already passed, with _half_ of a deer.

"How?" Sakura asked, both of her eyebrows rising to the edges of her forehead.

"I kind of…killed it and ended up with the bits scattered around," Naruto sheepishly murmured. "Had to destroy the evidence…that's why I wasted time."

"Less chatting, more eating," Sai quipped. "Need it cooked?"

There was a nod, a burst of fire, and Naruto shared cooked deer afterwards. The five minutes it took to eat it were spent in silence, and just as the raven haired boy was already glad Sakura had dropped the issue, he found himself staring into a pair of extremely close emerald eyes.

"Well?" Sakura asked. She didn't shyly ask or hesitantly ask or whatever-ask. She just…_asked_.

"Well…" Naruto coughed slightly to the side, letting his back rest against the tree trunk. Sakura was crouched in front of him, her eyes seemingly transfixed on his form. "Well what?"

"No running," she quipped. "_No running_." She stressed out through gritted teeth.

"All right," he exhaled. "I…It's a long story."

Sakura nodded, swinging her legs to the side of the branch and sitting down, letting them dangle in mid-air.

"I…you know, I'm an orphan," Sakura nodded. "So as an orphan, it's not like you can do much right? Sure, you can play in the garden of the orphanage, but until school starts, you're pretty much on yourself. They tell you that you shouldn't leave the garden during the day but…well, nobody actually played around the garden. The older kids bullied the young ones, because the young ones have a chance of getting adopted while the old ones don't. Some of the old ones are also unable to use chakra, and so they're civilians and have to live in the orphanage until they're old enough to find a job." He exhaled.

"Sometimes, a few shinobi would come. We called them 'masks'. They came, they took a few of the really young kids, and then we no longer heard from them. I was terrified of the masks. Everyone kind of was, but you know, it's not like you can do something about it, right? You're a kid and if they tell you that they've been adopted, you're actually jealous about them…but I wasn't. I was afraid they'd come for me next." Naruto swallowed heavily.

"So I did what I could to avoid the 'masks' when they came. I found a hole in the garden's fence, and I crawled through it. That's how I first began exploring Konoha. I was a kid back then, and I was actually more excited than scared: I lost myself after a few minutes of walking around." He chuckled nervously. "I was so scared. The people passed by and looked at me for a while, then frowned in disgust and moved on. I was told not to speak with strangers, but…I just was afraid, you know? I didn't like the orphanage, but that was the place where at least I knew someone," his voice was soft now.

"I began crying at a corner. You'd expect someone would have stopped to console the crying kid but…nobody did. It was a busy street, I didn't have the Anbu watching me like a hawk back then and I think the Sandaime was still busy repairing the damage the Kyuubi did to the village or what-not. I cried myself to exhaustion, but…" his voice trailed off. "Nobody came. I think that's when I decided to wear some bright color. There was this kid who was wearing orange, and he was holding his parents' hands and so I just thought 'maybe if I wear orange, they'll see me too'. I didn't think I was without parents…I just thought they had gone _somewhere_." He shook his head. "A kid doesn't know the meaning of 'Death' until later…so…"

He softly whispered. "That's when I became hungry. I couldn't stay there, so I began to walk. I tried to get back to the orphanage but…I just ended up in the opposite direction. It was getting pretty late at night, and I was hungry…so I thought 'since the Orphanage cooks at night, if I follow my nose looking for food I'll find them'. I…I'm sorry if it's long winded but…"

"It's all right," Sakura murmured back softly. "Take your time, Naruto."

"All right," he exhaled. "And that's how I found out about Ichiraku Ramen. I just ended up near it. I was dirty, exhausted and famished. It was…It was Ayame who found me outside. She said I looked like some sort of wounded rabbit with big wide and puffy eyes, and believing her I was simply 'too adorable to leave outside in the cold'." He chuckled.

"How I wish she hadn't found me," he clenched his fists tightly then, his eyes watery. "I would give anything to just go back and tell that past me to just…go away. They didn't deserve what they got in the end," he exhaled. "They didn't deserve me."

He closed his eyes, bringing his knees closer to himself as his right arm firmly encircled them. "Ichiraku's ramen was a stand, and yet it became my second home. I didn't have much money –it's not like the orphanage gives out money like candy– but I did what I could to earn it. The food was warm and at least…at least they _saw_ me. They could see me, whether I was wearing orange or not, they _saw_ me. It was enough." He opened his eyes again. "I thought that maybe, if I kept on smiling and acting kindly, then people would eventually open up. I didn't know I had the Kyuubi in me. I didn't know people weren't actually hating me but what I had inside…I didn't know, and nobody would tell me."

He exhaled. "Years passed. I started the academy. The children kept their distance at first but at least the sensei couldn't ignore me. I was finally called 'Naruto' rather than 'demon' or 'monster'. It was nice, even if Iruka-sensei had a wicked chalk-throw." He chuckled sadly. "And then that night came."

He breathed in slowly. "I wanted to cover in paint an angry merchant of the market square. I had found a nice canister of paint a few days before and it was half-empty. So I grabbed some rope and began to work on it. I would knock on the door, the can would fall and he'd be covered, you know? I couldn't even start on it." His voice became low, so low that Sakura had to strain her hearing to hear him.

"I just had the can of paint in hand, when Teuchi-san came from around the corner and saw me. He immediately zeroed on me and asked what I was doing outside so late at night. He was _worried_ about me, and that made me kind-of happy. I was answering him when…when the merchant in question went back home and saw me too. I hadn't even started the prank, but he didn't care. He neared me and…well, he hit me. Then Teuchi-san intervened. They scuffled, he threw Teuchi-san back and he fell, he," Naruto choked out a sob. "He fell and he didn't stand up and…and I saw red. I…I just know that when I woke up in the hospital, they told me Teuchi-san had died because he had broken his neck against that canister of paint. The one I had brought because I wanted to play a prank on someone else."

His eyes narrowed with their sadness on Sakura, as tears slowly descended down his cheeks. "I _killed_ him with my _stupidity_," he snarled. "If only I hadn't been pranking people. If only I had avoided acting like a moron. I could have had a sort-of family. I could have been…I could have been _happy_."

He chuckled to himself. "_The world is filled with madmen and monsters, and monsters don't deserve to be happy._"

"Naruto…" Sakura whispered softly. He remained silent until he felt a soft weight settling on his knees. He looked up, just to see Sakura's back resting against his legs with her head moved backwards, so as to still keep on looking at him –she had to be uncomfortable in that position.

"You don't have to be sad now," she whispered. Her arms went backwards, open wide as if she was trying to hug him. He opened his legs, letting her fall back with her head on his stomach as she smiled at that. She quickly recovered herself, pushing with her feet so as to have her head resting against his chest. "You have me and Sai."

"I am not participating in a pity-orgy for him, Kinky," Sai suddenly said in monotone, his eyes watching the scene unfold as Naruto stammered out while Sakura went blushing red. "If he wants my ass he'll have to fight for it," Sai said.

There was a moment of silence.

"A fight to the _death_," another second of silence, "which means he'd also be a Necrophile." Sai blinked. "You are not a Necrophile, are you, Dickless?"

"No," Naruto sighed. "I'm not. One day, I'd like to know how your train of thoughts goes…but I think I'd go mad if I tried to reason with your mind."

A bit away from them, Yugao looked towards Jiraiya. "And this is why I will not let you take him on an apprenticeship. Understood now, Jiraiya-sama?"

"I'll speak with the old geezer once more," the white haired Sannin said. "How is he even functional to begin with?"

"Luck, I suppose," Yugao murmured softly. "The…masks are the Anbu trainers. Sometimes they get the recruits directly from the orphanage."

"I know," Jiraiya exhaled. "There were so many orphans after the Kyuubi's attack…and so little shinobi."

Yugao's arms crossed over her chest. "I was taken that way," she remarked. "The training is…brutal, needed but…brutal."

"Mah," Jiraiya remarked, taking out his pen and his notepad. "In the midst of their tears, Zakura found the strength to love Zaruto, and as their lips met in a passionate locked embrace, their tongues darted through each other's mouth to–"

There now was a katana piercing through his notepad. "You will not write smut about my students," Yugao said firmly. She huffed and removed the katana tip…at the same time she tore to shred the notepad.

"Oh, Neko-chan!" Jiraiya whispered back. "Are you a Tsun-Tsun?"

"A…what?"

"A Ts…never mind."

Quickly, Jiraiya memorized the few lines he had already written. He had the title for his next Icha-Icha ready by now and by the time the mission was over…he'd be sending off to the editor a first draft.

The title was pure genius too.

_Icha-Icha Sexy Team Dynamics: Extra Neko Edition, nyaan!_

"You are dribbling blood from the nose, Jiraiya-sama," Yugao replied coolly. "Must I smack the impure thoughts out of your body?" she began to unsheathe the katana once more.

"Nope," he quickly shook his head. "I'm fine. Purified, pure like a baby really…"

There was a sigh of contentment from the white haired Sannin, as Yugao simply sheathed her blade again and then moved to a corner of the nook between the trees to stand guard. Quietly, Jiraiya sat down keeping an eye on the now half-asleep forms of the three Chuunin. All three of them were resting now, but not completely asleep. Every thirty minutes, they'd move their eyes a bit to wake up forcefully.

It helped to avoid disorientation in case of a sudden assault.

Jiraiya grimaced as he remembered Minato. If this was how Konoha had treated Naruto…he was surprised the boy hadn't defected earlier. The Sandaime had been right in fearing for a possible escape attempt –the boy had no love for the _people_ of Konoha, and with the way the tournament had gone, the feeling was mutual. He could attempt to mitigate it, but in the end…

He could only do this much, since the rest would be on Naruto's shoulders.

The way the three of them slept was cute however –there was a single brown and green speckled blanket covering the three of them, and just like Sai's head was dropped on one of Naruto's shoulder, so too was the girl resting on the other side, half of her body probably laid atop the raven boy.

If only he had had that much luck with Tsunade!

Then again the thought suddenly made him wonder: just what was the woman going to do now that the old man had been thoroughly pissed?

Elsewhere, Tsunade was actually trembling and blanching, as she read once more the carefully written pamphlet. They were standing in the room of a hotel, where her 'credit' was still worth something.

"The Senju compound will be demolished to make way to _hot springs and tourist attractions_?" Tsunade murmured in disbelief. "The cemetery will be emptied and the corpses burned to place a…to place an extension of the _red light district_ in it?"

She tore the pamphlet in neat halves.

"Shizune," she barked to her assistant. "We're going back to Konoha."

"Tsunade-shishou," Dan's niece said with hesitation. "It might be a trap, the Third Hokage…"

"Sensei _knows_ I know this is probably the only thing that would get me back in Konoha," she sighed. "But what is he going to do? I'll go back, stomp him a bit around and get him to stop. Heck, I'll probably saddle him with a few of my debts to boot knowing him." She rolled her honey-brown eyes. "After all, he probably just wants to know if I actually met with Orochimaru or not."

Shizune swallowed nervously. "But, Shishou…we did meet with him."

"Yes," Tsunade nodded. "But sensei doesn't _know_ that for sure. Just let me do the talking, understood?"

"If you say so, Tsunade-shishou," Shizune sighed. "I'll come along."

"Very well! And look, you said you wanted to visit Konoha right? Well, you'll get your wish now."

Shizune sighed. "Yes, Shishou…I suppose I will."

In Amegakure, meanwhile, the _body_ of Hanzo spoke to the Root envoy that Danzo himself had sent. The Root-trained soldier had no idea that he wasn't actually talking to the leader of Ame, but to his corpse held together by chakra and techniques too dark to speak of.

"Danzo-sama," the Root Anbu began calmly, "Would like to offer his help in fighting the shinobi of Orochimaru, and the help of his elite men, in memory of the past deals between Root and your leadership."

"I see," Hanzo nodded, standing up from his metallic throne that stood surrounded by pipes and metal sheets, the windows of the meeting hall covered by scraps of metal and bars as if to resemble a prison cell. There were no carpets, and only the cold sound of metal beating metal was hearable softly –and that too was overpowered by the ever-falling rain that pattered on the ground. "I wonder," the Salamander summoner remarked. "If you suddenly had the power to make right _any_ wrongdoings…"

The Root-Anbu tensed slightly. "Hanzo-sama?"

"Would you use said power for revenge, or for forgiveness?" Hanzo exhaled then slowly. "I know what I would do with it, but I am curious, faceless-nin. What would you do with such _power_?"

The Root shinobi seemed to be struggling with himself, before he finally answered. "I would use the power in the name of Danzo-sama."

"I see," Hanzo hissed out. "I see," he exhaled once more.

The Anbu never saw the metallic blade tear through his own chest. He just felt the blood in his mouth, as the poison quickly began to work devouring his insides, tearing apart his muscles and making his fleshy corpse –devoid of any inner organ or bones now– _flop down_ on the ground.

"He won't be missed," Sasori of the red sand commented, his boyish appearance hiding his true puppet-self. "I'll put his body to good use." Another wooden arm emerged from beneath his cloak, as he firmly grasped at the now boneless body of the Root with his chakra thread. "The new poison works perfectly too."

"Amegakure," 'Hanzo' remarked. "Has been the site of battles too bloody to be remembered…and too bloody to be forgotten," his voice cracked. "I will not have battle come to Ame."

"Yeah, yeah," Sasori rolled its eyes. "What should I tell Orochimaru?"

"Tell him to begin," Hanzo's corpse replied. "Tell him…to go south."

"South?" Sasori replied. "Suna has _something_?"

"No," the corpse replied. "Further south still..."

"Well, if you say so," the puppet-master commented. "It will be an easy thing then, do I really have to bring the _moron_ with me?"

"The moron will be useful," Hanzo replied. "In more ways than one."

"Fine," Sasori nodded. "But did Orochimaru get what I needed?"

"He did," Hanzo ground out. "Now, will you go?"

"Fine," and with those words, the wooden puppet that was Sasori disappeared in a flicker, together with the corpse of the Root Anbu.

Nagato exhaled as he walked out of the shadows, the Rinnegan shining in his eyes. He watched with amusement as 'Hanzo' descended from the throne, and smiled as he simply dropped limp on the ground next to it. Calmly, he took his place on the spot and closed his eyes.

His chakra flew.

It flew in the night-sky, it flew through the realm of the living and the dead. It flew beyond things mortal men could understand and beyond the great wheels that spun through the ether.

It flew…and then it landed in the body of his choice.

The eyes of the man in question opened without a fault, as he moved his hands to swipe away the bed sheets and stand up, to dress and prepare for another day of work. The body was rested –his mind was not. And so he walked out to watch the sun rise over the sea, of that perfectly clear morning that made him smile.

It was such beautiful scenery.

"Boss," the croaking voice of the man's bodyguards reached his ears, as he turned and looked at them through his dark sunglasses. "We've _convinced_ the villagers to leave," one of the two katana wielders grumbled. "The bridge is ours now, chief."

'Gatou' nodded. It was ironic that after the first bridge builder died his grandson had taken up the duty of completing it. Unfortunately for them, Gatou had become _his_ afterwards. He had let them build the bridge. He had waited until they had completed it…and then he had crushed their pathetic existence to claim it with Gatou's money, power and men.

_Ants had no power over a God_.

And he was a God. An almighty God…and soon, soon he would have a Body worthy of being called God-like.

Then he would have peace.

Through Pain, he would bring forth peace.

Naruto felt a shiver run across his body, as he opened his eyes to find Jiraiya snapping his fingers in front of him. "Wake up kid, we have to go."

He nodded; standing up, he looked around the make-shift camp they had built beneath the ground, half-way on the road towards what was supposed to be the location of Orochimaru's main hide-out. There had been some close calls, during the days spent walking on the road or crawling in the knee-deep water of the rice fields.

Once, Sai had come close to losing his head when a farmer had begun working on his field with his scythe. Thankfully he had been distracted by the boy's Genjutsu.

Sakura seemed a natural in prowling and hiding through the vegetation. She took to wearing face-paint of a green and white color –since rice was white and the stalks were green– and she actually growled when she felt something come closer.

The murmurs on 'Killing Anko' just seemed to grow from his sensei's side every time that happened.

Well, at least he now had a name for the bastard he had to kill for making Sakura like that.

He grumbly ate the small ration mixed with cooked stolen rice –no farmer was going to miss a few grains of rice, they had thousands!

The sun was half-covered by clouds, making the sky a giant sort of annoying mirror that glinted light in his eyes. He kept his gaze to the ground, as he settled the dirty looking mantle on his back and placed the thick straw hat on his head.

The farmer who had used those things was long dead, his body swiftly killed by Sakura _ripping out the man's neck from behind._ He had balked at the scene once. The second time she had done that…he had just offered a piece of cloth to the girl to clean her mouth.

He actually looked like a farmer, while Jiraiya seemed like the grumpy drunken father with a bag on his back.

Sai could not pass off as a farmer to save his life, that much had been clear simply by the color of his skin: not tanned enough, and his muscles weren't as burly to give him that appearance –his fingers too delicate also added to it.

Sakura and Sensei were out too, since farmers' wives remained at home –they didn't travel with their husbands.

So it was that, since the trees had grew too sparse, Naruto and Jiraiya had begun walking along the road in plain view, entrusting their safety to Sai –who wasn't actually pissed at having to keep on crawling in the water, Sakura –who seemed to be more at ease in those days than ever before, and Yugao –who actually was strangely beginning to reminisce with fondness her Anbu training.

"Movement ahead," Yugao radioed from her position as the forward scout.

Naruto did his best not to tense, as he watched a figure with orange hair dash forward –too fast to be civilian, so it had to be a ninja. The girl in question had a dark blue hat on her head, and the moment she stopped in front of them, she narrowed her light eyes on both of their figures.

Jiraiya's hair was actually black now, and seemed buzz-cut. Apparently, the toad sage knew fully well the trick of misdirection, and he had a far firmer grasp on the Henge than Naruto could ever possess.

"You two," the girl seemed to growl out. "What are you doing here?"

"Heading to the capital, to plead to the Daimyo!" Jiraiya's voice came out drunken and half-lecherous, something he was quite proficient in doing. "He must do something! Those monsters, those horrible monsters!"

"From which area do you come from?" the girl replied with a _worried_ voice. "Are there any survivors of your village?"

That rubbed Naruto wrong. There had been no 'identify yourself' just…some sort of _sad_ _acceptance_?

"No," Jiraiya didn't miss a beat as he shook his head sadly. He grasped Naruto by the shoulder, pulling him close to his chest. "Me and my boy…we survived by running. We were out late and then…it all burned up. I wanted to save my precious wife but hey, she was a nagging bitch all day long…"

He sniffled. "My Moya," he began to wail.

"All right," the kunoichi sighed. "Listen, the village of Otogakure is just a few hours of walk that way," she pointed to the side of the road, towards a canopy of trees that actually grew on the side of a hill. "When you go there, tell the guards Sasame Fuma vouches for you, all right?" she looked to Naruto then. "Be quick and get there before the night comes. If you can't, then try to hide by digging a hole. There are things that go around at night and…they're not pretty."

"Thank you! Thank you!" Jiraiya said with teary eyes. "Ah, if only my poor Moya…"

"Yeah," Sasame nodded hesitantly. Her gaze went to Naruto once more. "Try and keep your father away from the sakè in the village, understood?"

"I'll do that ma'am," he replied, nodding and bashfully lowering his gaze.

The girl smiled. "I'm Sasame."

"Sai," Naruto replied. "My drunken pops is Natto."

"Natto?" she raised an eyebrow. "Oh well," she shrugged, before starting to run along the road once more. "Hope he can hold a weapon…" she whispered, but to Naruto's keen ears it was as if she had spoken right next to him.

Jiraiya's eyes remained glazed over and sort-of drunken for a while, before they finally returned to their normal brilliance a moment later. "Something's off."

"The bitch was in heat," Sakura radioed frostily. "The way she looked at Naruto, of course there was something off."

"No banter on the radio." Yugao's voice came. "Use only code words."

"Bitch-Whore Orange tried pass on Lord," Sakura ground out again. "Better, Cat?"

"Yes," Yugao sighed.

"Radio silence unless Fubar, Cherry," Jiraiya said crisply. "Heading in with Lord..._alone_."

"But!"

"Cherry," 'Pervert' said then. "Quiet."

And then there was silence.

But the grounding noise and the clenching and distending of Sakura's hands clearly hinted what the girl thought of such an order…even as hidden as she was in the rice fields.

Naruto just exhaled.

They were entering the lair of the beast…

And already, some things were off.

What else could go worse?

He cursed himself a moment later.

He had just jinxed it, hadn't he?

**Author's notes**

…

**Banter. Fluff. Banter. Fluff.**

**Psycho we all are.**

**We all are Psycho.**

**Chaos! Destruction!**

**(Am I doing the teasing stuff well?)**


	36. The Outwitting of the Outsmarted

Introverted

Chapter Thirty-Six

Otogakure's secret village was beneath the ground. There were tall wooden palisades that encircled the entrance however, each richly fortified with wires, caltrops and sharp blades. The stench of blood in the air was unmistakeable —it was clear there had been a battle recently, and it was even clearer that it hadn't been the first time, judging by the jaded eyes of the guards that looked at them arriving.

"You two!" one of the guards —probably a Chuunin— "Identify yourself!"

"Sasame Fuma said to come over here!" Naruto exclaimed. "Me pops and I, we're survivors from the monsters!"

"My poor Moyaaaa!" Jiraiya sniffled and wailed. Naruto actually sported a nervous tick-mark. The man was actually wailing that with his breath filled with alcohol…and he was taking in terrible sniffs every time he opened his mouth.

"Yeah, anyway we were going to the Daimyo but—"

"You don't know kid? The Daimyo's gone," the second guard —a tall muscular man with a giant sword on his back— said. "We're all that remains of Rice Field country. Come on in, we're closing the gates for the night anyway."

Naruto gritted his teeth as he stepped inside, carrying the fake-drunk Jiraiya with him as the wooden palisades slid behind them, trapping them inside enemy territory.

The man with the giant sword came down to meet them, extending his right hand for a handshake.

"I'm Hanzaki, the head of the Fuma clan," he said firmly. "I am the new Otokage…but that's just a name now," he exhaled. "The monsters that attacked your village, were they winged?"

"N-No," Naruto shook his head. The man hadn't even asked them from which village they came from, but simply asked about the monsters as if afraid…what was the reason for it?

"Thank Kami for small graces," the tall and broad shinobi murmured. It was then that Naruto finally got a good look around the outside area of the village, and that…that was when he saw misery in the face of others.

Many farmers were stiffly holding crude lances or old swords, while a few of the young one hesitantly held kunai or scythes. They had never wielded a weapon, and it showed. "Well, follow me inside –we'll get you a spot. Food's the only thing not lacking around here…" Hanzaki remarked firmly as he gestured for them to follow. "Food and rice sake," he sighed.

"Is it bad?" Naruto asked slowly.

"It's worse," Hanzaki shook his head. "One day, the monsters just appeared," he began to descend the stairs, passing by a hundred of tents that held what few men and women could fight. "And they…well, they didn't die. It was as if…as if they couldn't feel pain, or care for their life. We stabbed them in the heart, and they lived. We tried to bash their skulls and they lived. We _decapitated_ them, and they still lived," Hanzaki shook his head. "If you can call that life, of course."

"And they're everywhere in rice field country?" Naruto asked in shock. Outside the walls, the rest of his team was in danger then!

"Yes and no," the man said as he knocked on twin giant bronze doors, the entrance to Otogakure. The doors creaked open, "They move at night, and during the day they're catatonic." The man nodded to the guards who had opened the doors, who began to close them back.

The corridors had purple walls, and were wide enough to let two ox carts pass through at the same time. Yet it was a tight fit trying to walk, because women and children sat frightened against the walls. Their eyes were gaunt and filled with dried up tears, while the mothers held onto their sons and daughters protectively while they passed through. There was pure desperation in the air, and even Jiraiya had a more sombre 'drunken mood' at that.

"Ehi pops," Naruto whispered. "What do we do now?"

"Hic," Jiraiya answered. "We help them, of course!"

Hanzaki smiled as he walked past a busy crossroad lit by eerie purple-light torches to reach for the granary. "You must be hungry, both of you," he said, nodding to one of the five men stationed in front of a metal door. The man nodded and opened the door, admitting the three of them inside.

It was a dining room. Normally it would be packed with people eating, but it was now eerily empty –safe for strange crystal-like growths that ran across the ceiling, giving the area a soft pink tint. "There's no way to keep people out of the food stores otherwise," Hanzaki stated. "And we need to keep them away from Guren-san too, or she can't concentrate."

Naruto didn't know who this Guren was, but then again…he was actually starting to think there wasn't a war to fight in Otogakure to begin with: it was as if they had been used by Orochimaru, and then discarded once they had served their purpose. Jiraiya was probably thinking pretty much the same thing.

The man finally reached the end of the room lit by crystals, opening one of many giant drawers and taking out rice cakes and rice onigiri. "As I said before…food's not the problem."

He gestured for them to sit, before 'breaking bread' with them.

"We need soldiers," Hanzaki said. "We're…We're planning on leaving and trying our luck in Demon Country. They don't have much of a military, and we can offer our services to them in exchange for protection. Orochimaru, the previous leader of Otogakure…he betrayed us. He betrayed all of us," Hanzaki shook his head slowly. "That's why…that's why I'm pleading you, Jiraiya-sama, help us!"

Naruto's eyes widened as he cursed loudly, jumping away from the table and palming the only weapon he had on him –the Yoroi Tanto. He ducked and rolled, evading a flurry of crystal shuriken that crashed against the ground and erupted in spikes that flew to Naruto's pursuit. He jumped away, slamming down one of the tables in the dining hall to use as a shield. The moment the shuriken touched it however, it crystallized on the spot. Fragments of pink began to fly in Naruto's vision, as the crystals overhead splintered and broke.

Cursing, he brought his hands together to begin his only wind technique, when Jiraiya's voice cut through calmly, followed by Hanzaki's own.

"Stop!" Naruto stilled, just as the crystals materialized into a dark blue haired figure wearing a long green coat with a white furred neck-line. The woman's lips were glossy, and she licked them while keeping a keen eye on Naruto.

"How did you know who I was?" Jiraiya asked then, looking back to Hanzaki.

"Orochimaru was extremely paranoid when it came to you," the woman said. "He had us learn all your possible disguises and mannerisms…by _heart_. He also told us before leaving that you might have come here after he began his attacks…so we just knew that, when an old man and a boy arrived without showing any sign of prolonged malnutrition…"

"You suspected," Jiraiya accused. "But you had no proof."

"The crystals on the ceiling emit a light frequency," the woman said. "I can hear them vibrate when something electronic is in range, something small like ninja radios emit a specific frequency."

"So you signalled him that we were indeed shinobi, and you took your chance," Jiraiya nodded. "Very well…" he exhaled before standing on the table. "Indeed it is! The Gallant Jiraiya of the Sannin!"

Striking a pose with a bright smile, the Sannin smirked. "What can I do for you, young lady?" he then said with a lecherous face moving closer to the woman who just shuddered and stepped back.

"You'll find no luck with Guren-san," Hanzaki said calmly. "You're too old for her tastes."

Guren narrowed her eyes on Hanzaki, who just shrugged. "And I'd rather not have to dispose of another crystal corpse."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at that, but said nothing more. Naruto frowned. Crystal corpse?

"In any case," Hanzaki said. "We would like to leave for Demon Country…if not us, at least the civilians who have done nothing."

"Why not cross to Fire Country?" Jiraiya said with a questioning voice.

"We are still ex-Orochimaru loyalists," Hanzaki said. "Do you really think we'll be let go, even after delivering the information Konoha wants?"

"So it's a beneath the table exchange you'd like to make?" the Sannin queried.

"Exactly," Hanzaki nodded. "Guren-san? Could you bring Jiraiya-sama's apprentice out of here while we talk?"

"He stays where I can see him," Jiraiya retorted quickly. His eyes shone slightly.

"If that is your desire," Hanzaki sighed. "Very well, what I wanted to talk about was…"

The doors suddenly jerked open, as a scared Chuunin yelled out in the room. "We're under attack! The monsters found a way inside!"

"What?!" Hanzaki's exclamation was met with Guren dashing out of the room, faster than Naruto could follow her.

"Naruto! Assist them!" Jiraiya bellowed. "Hanzaki-san? We can let the discussion begin after we deal with this…problem."

"Of course," Hanzaki nodded stiffly. Naruto followed Jiraiya outside, not seeing the simple summoning technique the Sannin used before pursuing Hanzaki. A small red toad croaked in the empty room once, before slowly making its way deeper in the compound.

Jiraiya had a secondary mission, after all.

The tents were on fire when they stepped outside, as the few people who weren't screaming slashed and stabbed with their weapons against strange hulking creatures made of flesh and torn muscles, whose overgrown bones were used as crude make-shift maces to tear and smash to bloody pulps the defenders.

Overgrown sac of flesh pulsed eerily in the night sky, as their deformed mouths filled with crooked teeth moaned their despair and their pain. Their muscles pulsed as the monstrosities seemed to grow and rip themselves apart as they gorged on the flesh of the deceased, before slowly breaking apart into two new smaller creatures.

"W-What are those things!?" Naruto's exclamation was met with Jiraiya making a single hand-sign, letting a thick stream of oil coat the closest of the monsters, before the second hand-sign added fire to the mixture igniting the beast and making it scream a sharp blood-freezing shriek.

"Orochimaru's experiments!" Hanzaki yelled. "This is why we need your help, Jiraiya-sama!" as he said that, he pointed to the monster that the sage had burned…which was now shuddering as the charred skin began to crack and splinter, before showing raw red flesh that soon regrew and reformed.

"What do you do with them usually!?" Jiraiya's voice carried over just as Guren's crystal particles flew to freeze the beast in a prison of crystal. She smashed the creature to bits afterwards.

"That," Hanzaki curtly replied, "But even Guren-san can't hold for much."

The walls trembled as a roar echoed, soon followed by the crashing down of the wooden palisade to the side. Naruto had expected to end up battling a monster, not to find his teammate running across the landscape towards him eyes shining and with a kunai _in her mouth_.

Sakura didn't know they were trying to peace-talk with the Otogakure shinobi. She didn't know there were civilians inside the village. She only knew that her packmate was in danger, and that Sensei had told her they had to wait. She had waited until she had seen him in the thick of the battle, then she had charged ahead and blown up the wall with a dozen of explosive tags.

It didn't matter that the noise had brought in more of those monsters. It didn't matter that she had just made a hard fight a suicidal one-stand.

The Pink-Haired Chuunin used her right hand to tear apart the neck of an Oto shinobi, slashing at him from behind as she sped up, jumping in the air and twisting as she spat out the kunai to grab it with her free bloodied hand before using gravity to fall fasted and smash the head of one of those monsters like it was a watermelon.

A ripe watermelon.

She didn't stop, not caring that the monstrous creature was actually standing back up with its head reforming around the kunai…as if it was just…some sort of momentary trouble.

Naruto swallowed and sidestepped the bone mace of one of the creatures, his hands calling forth the chakra to his throat as he began to make it spin within his mouth. The moment he heard the familiar sound of chakra grinding against itself to form wind, he exhaled the lethal blades of air against his opponent.

The blades sliced through the experiment's chest, cutting him into two distinctive halves and scattering its limbs like it had happened with the deer itself. Naruto then felt Sakura's back against his, as the girl had apparently moved to watch his back.

"What are you doing here, Sakura!?" he exclaimed as he found himself parrying the attack of a sound-nin with the chakra reinforced Yoroi Tanto. The problem was that Hanzaki hadn't had the time to tell his men he was supposed to be on their side…and now that he was back to back with a Konoha ninja who had killed one of their own…it would be all the more difficult.

"You were in danger!" she yelled back.

"I'm a shinobi!" he screamed as he took a vertical slash forward against the sound-nin, before crouching and jumping forward to stab the thigh of the enemy ninja before he could bring down his kunai against Naruto's back. The boy then sidestepped, letting his blade tear through the man's thigh muscles and moving out of his range of attack as he extricated from the very bone of the leg his weapon.

The Sound-Nin screamed as he clutched his leg and fell on the ground, but his screams were gurgled to death by Sakura stomping down on the man's neck and breaking his spine, before she charged ahead to slam her own fist against an enemy _behind_ Naruto.

The sound of a skull caving in was something Naruto would now remember forever –it made a strange crunching noise followed by a wet 'slurp' as the fist removed itself from the tender flesh.

Naruto saw a bone club coming down on Sakura again, from a strange experiment that held _two heads_ rather than one, when an Ink Lion slammed into the foul creature and pushed it to the ground, before a fireball lit it up enhanced by the gasoline in the ink.

Sai's flurry of shuriken passed by Naruto and Sakura with grace as the boy neared, the volley used to force the incoming Sound-nin on their location to stop and duck away.

The moment Sai was at his left and Sakura at his right, Naruto began going through hand-signs.

Technically, all techniques could be done without hand-signs. It wasn't easy, but the Nidaime Hokage was renowned for having made a thirty-three hand-sign technique require only one, and the most skilled the shinobi, the less signs were required.

However…more signs meant more ease in controlling the chakra outburst, which meant a stronger technique.

Five seals later, and Naruto's air blades were enhanced by two fireballs that created a veritable maelstrom of scorching fire in front of the trio of Chuunin.

The fire charred through both experiments and shinobi, taking into its fiery embrace of death also the farmers who had taken up arms to simply defend their homes. The screams…the screams would not be something easy to forget.

In the midst of the battle however, Naruto couldn't think about that.

He had to survive by pushing himself down on the ground to avoid a swing of another bone club, and he had to roll back to avoid being stomped to the death. He had to pull Sai back by grabbing him by the shoulder and avoid suffering a kunai to the neck, just as he had to let himself be thrown away by Sakura from thin strands of wire that another enemy had used against him.

They had to fight one with the other, and they had to _trust_ one another. It was…

It was _glorious_ and _exhilarating_.

He felt adrenaline run through his body as he twisted sideways to avoid three kunai, only for Sai to tackle him to the ground and roll away as one of the three detonated –an explosive tag had been attached to it, probably. He barely managed to stand up that he realized one of the experiments had taken a swing against them –one that he could not dodge in time.

Naruto sailed in the air, feeling his entire left side unresponsive and mushy from the sheer impact, before hending up with his right side cracking as he landed in pain against the wooden remains of the palisade. The barbed wire and the metal blades tore through his skin as he rolled against them, before landing in a shuddering mess on the ground, face down.

"Naruto!" he heard a worried voice. "Naruto!" was it getting farther away?

"Blood," he muttered. His gaze unfocused, as Naruto watched his blood falling on the ground and dripping down from his torn apart body. He struggled to remain awake. He could hear the light chuckling sound of the Kyuubi behind his ears; he could feel the Ichibi's rotten corpse rise from beyond the seal, ready to take control of his slipping away mind…and then he saw the bone lance of an experiment coming down on him, just as a pink blur stood shakily in front of him, screaming to the top of her damaged voice.

"You won't get him! You won't take him away from me, you understand?!"

The black blur to his other side was drawing furiously, but the pink blur was in danger. He…He wanted to do something.

If he could grind the chakra…if he could…

The thought gave him…noise.

He heard a strange grinding sound around him.

He couldn't move his neck –It hurt too much– but he watched as the white blurred lance came crashing down against the pink blur…and was stopped by a giant yellow blur that looked like a floating hand.

"Get." He hissed out. "Away." He choked on his own blood, which was pooling in his mouth as he had bitten his tongue from the effort to remain awake. "From…" the blurred form took back definition in Naruto's eyes, which were bleeding just like most of his body. "_**MY TEAMMATE**_!" He roared that as the _giant sand hand_ crushed through the experiment and pushed him away before snapping him in half and tearing it apart with the same principle of creating wind.

The monster…did not stand up, as only grains of flesh and blood remained smeared on the sand that gently floated now in the air.

"N-Naruto?" the voice was further away now, why was it getting away?

"Ehi, Naruto!" the voice was holding on his face with her hands. "Naruto! Answer me! Stay with us! Stay awake! You can't fall asleep now! Naruto! Stay with me! Please! Stay!"

Blessed darkness captured his gaze…

And Naruto Uzumaki exhaled.

He found himself floating, in the midst of a pitch black sea of ink. In that darkness, in that nothingness, he floated and felt himself growing heavy.

He heard a slight chink coming from somewhere close to his chest, and as he gazed downwards he saw something so bright that it hurt his eyes. It was a chain, a golden chain made of chakra that looked golden, which pierced him through the stomach and seemed to be going upwards.

There was another chink.

A second chain of gold appeared too, slowly coiling down the first one like a snake before it plunged into his stomach without hurting him.

He didn't understand. What had he been doing till then?

Where was he?

_I am the one who will establish peace and order._

There was a voice now. It was deep, dark and ominous. It felt twisted. It felt _wrong_.

_Destroy the village. Destroy Hashirama._

It wasn't the voice of his father, but he had to follow it as if it were…

It was wrong.

_Fool demon! Be gone from our village, no wicked live here!_

The rapist was there. Why were they stopping him?

_The Sage is just a fairy tale, and you are just a demon! You will not take my son!_

But he was a murderer, a murderer of hundreds.

_The Daimyo is not a sinner, nor is he wicked! He was chosen by the heavens and no-one will listen to your words, demon!_

_Monster!_

_Prepare the archers! Call the armies!_

He was doing his duty.

He was doing what the sage had asked. He wanted to bring peace to the world.

Why…_Why were they not listening to him_?

"_**I AM THE KYUUBI! THE BEARER OF HUMANITY'S HATRED!**_" he roared to the skies…as he cried his tears. "Why? Why must I be in this form, father? What have I done to displease you so much?"

His claws were wicked, his eyes crimson and evil. His fur soaked in the red colour of blood. "What have they done to us, father?" he whispered. "Where have my brothers gone…"

"Foul beast!" a female voice called to him. The figure had red hair, tied in buns, and was wearing a long sleeveless kimono. She held an ofuda in her hand and had tags as piercings. He didn't like her, but she smelled familiar.

"You have destroyed the lives of hundreds for long enough!"

"I have done what I was tasked to do by the Sage himself, fool!" the Kyuubi roared. "Nothing your pathetic existence can understand –you abominable beasts, bearers of malice!"

He charged at her, and she charged back.

A third golden chain came down with the first two, gently surrounding Naruto's body and beginning to pull him up.

Barriers of gold and chains of chakra wounded his flesh and corroded his body. He roared and screamed, as more and more chains sprouted from the ground, the woods, the air itself. She hadn't come alone.

He was shackled. He was chained.

_He had been doing his duty._

He was torn to pieces; they tried to use him, but he was too strong for them. So he was merged in a single container.

_He was whole again_.

He broke the container. He escaped. He fought men whom he ate and that ate him back.

He was captured again. He was sealed again, in a living being.

_He made her suffer_.

She stopped listening. _If you use your power, only hatred will come from it. Stay tranquil inside of me._

_He was sealed in another_.

He _tried_ to make her suffer, but she knew not to listen.

_He had a duty._

The world needed him.

_He had a duty._

Naruto was lifted up outside of the darkness, and back in the light. He fell with his back against the water of his sewer-like mind, as giant Torii gates of red wood held imprisoned the Kyuubi himself. Had he come out of his mouth? The Kyuubi had…_he had tried to eat him_.

Yet there was a female with red hair and buns, holding the mouth of the beast open with her chains and moving her hands as more and more Torii gates fell down one after the other to entrap the tails of the fox.

Finally, the chains surrounded the demon's mouth like a dog's muzzle, and the woman took a step back. She looked young, younger than he remembered.

Naruto frowned: he had never seen the woman before. There was a moment of silence, as Naruto's eyes looked around. The Ichibi's rotting body was burning, as its chakra began to twist and pull itself apart before merging with the chakra chains that held the Kyuubi prisoner.

"I suppose…" the woman's voice was soft, "That presentations are in order, great-grandson."

She turned to look at him, and he widened his eyes briefly. She had striking purple pupil-less eyes, and her voice was stern but soft. "I am Mito Uzumaki, wife of Hashirama Senju, and first Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

The Kyuubi growled from his spot.

"We will talk more away from here," Mito stated, grabbing Naruto's shoulder and transporting them away, back to where the gates of the seal were supposed to be…but were not.

"The…the seal," Naruto croaked looking at the wide open gates, torn from their hinges and laid on the ground.

"Indeed," Mito nodded sagely. "It was torn apart. Your consciousness failed you, and when you lost yourself, the Ichibi possessed you. He always was able to commandeer those who fell asleep after all but I could hold him back by holding the Kyuubi's chakra away…at least from him. When you fell grievously injured, I had to let the chakra of the demon run through your body, lest you die because of your wounds. He broke the seal then, and then…he ate you."

"Nice," Naruto drawled. "I suppose I was fished out of his stomach?"

"Indeed," Mito nodded once more. "You are still alive, and while I do not know the state of your body…in your mind, for now, all will be tranquil."

"How much?" he asked.

"I…beg your pardon?"

"How much life do I have left," Naruto whispered. "After this…_stunt_, how much life?"

"You will probably live to see your grandchildren grow up," Mito replied firmly. "It is not…"

"The bastard lied on that too!?" Naruto groaned. "He said I lost ninety-years, meaning I would have until my thirties!"

"Desperation breeds recklessness," Mito answered sagely. "It is a common trick. Indeed, you have lost life…but you will still live to be that old."

"How old can an Uzumaki live, anyway?"

"I married the first Hokage…and I was old when your mother came to Konoha to become the new Jinchuuriki."

"That's…" Naruto blinked. "You're old, Granny."

Mito's forehead sported a tick mark then, as she ground out. "I am not old, I am venerable."

"That's…that's still old, Granny."

She smacked him on the head with a fan made of silk that appeared from one of her kimono's sleeves. "Desist or I will smack you again."

"All right!" Naruto chuckled. "So what now?" he asked, looking around. "Where is the exit to this place?"

Mito simply sighed, before taking a step forward and hugging Naruto firmly. "You can cry, child."

"Cry? Ehi Granny, I don't have to cry for nothing! Really, everything's fine! I'm alive, and…" he choked. "I'm fine and…"

"Shh," Mito whispered. "It's all right," she murmured. "I will tell you something I told your mother, when she too cried for what her destiny was…" she held Naruto firmly, as she spoke slowly. "_We are the vessel of the nine-tails, but before that, we must find love and fill ourselves with it._"

"What does it mean?"

"Hatred can do nothing against love," Mito said. "Kurama's ability…it ties to negative emotions. If those are countered, then he is powerless. If good emotions fill the vessel, then he can do nothing."

"But…where is love in this world?" Naruto asked firmly. "There's only…hell, and a slight variation of it, everywhere!"

"Hush now, child," Mito remarked. "Hell is only in your head," she said, ruffling his hair. "There is good everywhere. There is love everywhere. You just need to open your eyes and see it, a world built only on malice cannot survive, you know?"

"But there isn't only…"

"I had to get a pessimist eventually," Mito sighed. "Let me guess: there is evil in the world, everywhere, lurking around the corner ready to slit my throat if I hope…and you know? You are right. There is…but just because there is, should we live all our life without feeling love and hope? Should we live all our life in agony and despair? Should we only feel hatred and revenge? There is love…there is peace…there is forgiveness."

Naruto shuddered.

"Think about my words and sleep now, my wayward child," Mito softly spoke. "You have earned it."

And Naruto closed his eyes smiling, as he was still in the warm embrace of Mito who gently caressed his locks as he slept and…and for once, he actually felt _loved_.

Sakura hadn't left Naruto's side since they had left the Otogakure base, heading towards Demon country. Not that it was smart to do so: those who had survived the battle and seen her…well, they blamed her for the deaths of the civilians in the base.

Even with Jiraiya, the most they had managed to do was to use one of his toad summons to hastily take those he could and hop away from there. The rest had been killed by the monsters.

Children no older than six had probably turned to mush, mothers, grandmothers…the old and the unlucky young…Jiraiya filed it away in a corner of his mind, and decided never to dwell on it again. That was how he had coped through the war after all: forget the dead; they are just statistics even when you are the one responsible for them rising.

Sakura didn't even feel guilty about that. Her only reply was that 'Naruto had been in danger' or that 'He needed her'. Yugao had told him that the moment the radio communication had gone off –Guren's crystals no doubt– she had all but been forced to clasp down on Sakura's wrist to avoid the girl barging in.

The fact even Sai had tensed ready to follow her…

It was borderline-insubordination.

Especially because once Sakura had charged in, Sai _had followed swiftly_. Yugao's orders had fallen on deaf ears. He could now understand why Danzo had considered Sai a 'defective product'. Such an action done by a Root member? That was wrong on so many levels…

Still, they were still out of Konoha: if they had to face disciplinary charges, they'd face them once back in the village. Till then, they had to reach Demon Country, and they had to do so carefully.

Swamp country was mostly uninhabited, but the next two…the land of Claws and the land of Fangs were border nations and rivals most of the time. He had averted a war from breaking out there once, but he just hoped another hadn't started since he last checked.

He gave one quick gaze to where Sakura stood, holding Naruto's body on her back and growling whenever someone who wasn't Sai tried to come closer. Even Sai had to actually fight the girl to get his turn on 'carrying' Naruto.

"If he tries to poke my ass, I will drop him," Sai deadpanned then, eliciting another bout of inspiration for Jiraiya's muse. "Now hand him over."

"No," Sakura grumbled. "I can still carry him for another hour."

"You would be too tired then," Sai replied. "I will risk my ass for him, this once." He blinked again. "I wanted to add 'I already risk it more than once being with him' but that sounded dirty even for me, Cherry."

"I said I'll carry him, and I'll carry him!" Sakura snapped back, growling at Sai who simply looked back at her perplexed. "Understood?"

"Sakura!" Yugao barked then, "Hand Naruto over," she pointed to herself. "I will carry him now."

The girl would have wanted to protest…but in the end she had to comply with her sensei. Soon, Yugao hefted Naruto on her back and sped up, watching with ill-conceived amusement as Sakura tried to keep up with her pace, looking half-way between _affronted_ and _grieving_.

Thankfully none of the Oto-ninjas were stupid enough to try and fight them –they knew they had a chance of reaching a safe haven only for as long as Jiraiya guided them.

Jiraiya was standing next to Hanzaki, when an orange-haired blur stopped in front of the column. "Hanzaki! I can't find Kotohime-san!" the girl, the one with the dark blue hat, was anguished as she spoke.

"She's probably dead, Sasame," Hanzaki whispered back.

Sasame clenched her fists then. "Why do we need their help?" she said, gesturing towards Jiraiya. "We can reach Demon country alone."

"As Oto-shinobi…do you think the countries will let us through their borders easily without someone vouching for us?" Hanzaki retorted.

"Then just drop the forehead protector!" Sasame exclaimed. "We should never have believed in Orochimaru to begin with!"

"The man was wrong in his ways," Hanzaki replied. "But he was not wrong in giving us somewhere to belong. Now more than ever we as a clan are united: can you really spit upon that too?"

"But Kotohime…"

"She died doing her best for the clan," Hanzaki nodded firmly. "As I would have done too that night."

"I don't like this," Sasame muttered as she moved towards the back of the marching column, her gaze moving from the civilians to the small empty circle that held the Konoha shinobi. She fixed her gaze on the raven haired boy who was asleep, and a small wicked smile formed on her face.

"I don't like this at all," she said just as, in another side of the world, Danzo Shimura said the exact same words while looking down at the map of the area.

His operatives had not yet come back, but…there were no signs of the invading army anywhere.

Unless they had grown wings or tunnelled beneath the ground like the best of the Iwa shinobi…

"Where did they go?" he hissed clenching the map, as his _eyes_ one dark and the other green, moved furiously around the possible formations and movements he could execute. "I taught him," Danzo cussed. "I shouldn't have taught him that well."

"You can't hide an army that big!" he yelled, slamming his fist on the ground. "Have the shinobi swipe the areas again, send scouts to where the enemy was last seen…" he murmured. "There has to be something."

Elsewhere, up in the skies, Orochimaru looked beneath him while holding a spy-glass.

"Well then, men!" he exclaimed feeling slightly _jubilant_. "All shinobi, to battle stations!" his army roared its agreement, as the cannons of the Land of the Sky prepared themselves for a devastating and deadly volley.

"Cannons charged?"

A moment of silence.

"Primed?"

Another moment of silence.

"Hebi, do give the order to open fire and slaughter that village over there, would you?" he said then, gesturing to his assistant who was holding the spy-glass now, as Orochimaru-sama had given it back to her.

"B-But…"

"Hebi?"

"Open fire!" she squeaked.

"Louder Hebi, louder," Orochimaru tut-tutted. "They can't hear you: they're stupid, you have to scream the order."

And thus Hebi breathed in and out slowly, calming her beating heart for a moment…

Before she finally screamed it out pointing her finger forward.

"_**OPEN FIRE!**_"

And _**Chaos**_ ensued.

**Author's notes**

**Geography lesson.**

**The only map depicted shows land of Demons two lands away from land of Swamps, which is 'diagonally' shown to a purple nation (Naruto Wikia) purple usually= Otogakure. Thus, map in Naruto-Wikia is to be 'moved' of ninety degrees to the left (perpendicular) Meaning the 'Mountain Graveyard' is actually located in a country that borders with the Demon Country.**

**Geography lesson of Shade done.**

**Look for 'Shinobi Elemental Countries' and the map of 'Demon Country' for more clarification.**

**Guren's **_**preferences**_** are lamp-shaded. Nothing good anyway.**

**The **_**experiments**_** are a…fusion, of two Orochimaru underlings.**

**Guess them, and win a nice prize! (A digital cookie)**

**And…I lied in the AN.**

**Land of the Sky! Who saw it coming!?**


	37. The Darkness Rises

Introverted

Chapter Thirty-Seven

It was lunch-time, and Naruto had yet to move a muscle. Sakura was worried. The refugee column had taken a rest –the civilians weren't used to running long distances, and what was supposed to be a week's worth of travel for the shinobi was becoming a month long with civilians being towed sometimes by the shinobi. She watched with keen eyes the movement of the sound ninjas who walked close by.

She couldn't trust them: they were a danger to her and her pack.

Naruto was sleeping softly. His breathing was strangely soothing, because it told Sakura one important thing: he was still alive. He had taken a near fatal hit, and it was a miracle he still _breathed_. Nobody except her sensei had touched him to treat his wounds, and even looking at him now one could see just what the extents of the injuries were.

His entire left side was tightly plastered, with bandages and gauzes to hold his 'bits and pieces' together. His right side was wounded, but not much so. There was a slight dusting of sand on his wounds, which was stained red from his blood.

It was unnatural. Naruto never remained wounded for long. His skin was always unblemished, his smile always ready to sprout when he looked at her or Sai. There never was a moment where he remained wounded, on the ground, down…dead.

No! That was a bad thought. Naruto was not dead, and he was _not_ going to die. He had saved her again, with…sand, but he was not dead. No. She had protected him, and he had protected her. There was no way he could be dead.

It was just that…an _immobile_ Naruto was something she couldn't…she couldn't _understand_. She had failed him. She should have been quicker; she should have been stronger still, to stop those monsters and keep them away.

She had fought, but she had just worsened the situation…but her teammate had been in danger, and she was not feeling remorse for her actions: she had done _well_.

The soft footsteps that approached made her wary, but they belonged to Sai and so she calmed down.

"I brought food," Sai remarked handing over one of the rice cakes that had been the only thing consumed since the beginning of their march. She understood it was the land of the rice fields…but only rice-based products was starting to sicken her. Was it too much to ask for a fish, or some meat?

"What of Naruto?"

He nudged to a canteen to his side. "Mushed rice."

"Of course," Sakura sighed. She was starting to find the prospect of cabbage soup –an horrid invention of an evil mastermind– something delicious and to dream of at night, when compared to all the rice 'delicacies' that so apparently filled the mind of Rice Field Country's citizens.

"Has Dickless woken up?" Sai asked, looking to the prone form of his teammate.

"No," Sakura shook her head. "I'm…I'm worried. He's usually awake after a few hours…it's been two days."

"Dickless will be fine," Sai replied. "If Death is a female, he'll have her in his harem soon."

"He doesn't have a harem," Sakura rebuffed him gently. "Hey, do _you_ need anything?"

"I'm fine," Sai shrugged. He was: he hadn't even been wounded.

"I wonder," Sakura murmured. "They say that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger…shouldn't Naruto be invincible?"

"No-one is invincible," Sai replied. "Do you want to rest?"

"Will you guard us?" she looked towards Naruto. Sai nodded and turned his gaze to watch the rest of the Oto shinobi.

Sakura lowered herself against Naruto, placing her left arm beneath his neck and bringing her face close to his cheek. She closed her eyes and calmly fell asleep, letting the tip of her nose touch his cheek.

It was in that moment that Naruto opened his eyes.

He did not speak. He just opened his eyes and watched the sky, the clouds, the bright blue…and then he saw Sai's back standing guard probably and a tint of pink in the corner of his eye. He slowly moved his head to have a clearer look, and came face to face, once more, with those emerald eyes that belonged to Sakura.

She had woken up feeling movement, and her eyes were now wide open.

"We must stop meeting like this," he croaked out.

"Naruto," Sakura breathed out as she hugged him tightly –making him wince and hiss in pain. "Naruto!"

"Yeah," he coughed out. "Yeah Sakura, it's my name…You're hurting me, please…I need air Sakura, Sakura! Air!" he coughed once more, before Sakura sheepishly let go of her tight hug, but remained 'hooked' to him, nuzzling against the side of his neck.

"I was scared," she muttered. "Why do you always scare me like this?" she huffed. "It's not fair."

"Dickless," Sai nodded to him. "I will warn the Taichou and Sensei. Catch." The boy threw the canteen with the mushed rice to Sakura, who grabbed it with agility without even a second thought.

Sai left then, leaving behind his two teammates.

"Oh, right," Sakura murmured as she slowly uncorked the canteen and gave a hesitant sniff. "Ugh."

"How long was I out?" Naruto asked, "And where are we now?"

"We're moving towards Swamp country," Sakura replied. "You've been out for two days," she added. "Listen, Naruto…I'm sorry."

He raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"You saved me once more," she exhaled. "And Sai too, he thinks you took the blow for him."

"I did my job," Naruto replied sheepishly. "Where's my Chuunin vest?"

"Sensei had to remove it as well as most of your clothes," Sakura stammered out. "She had to treat your wounds," she added then softly.

"Is that why I can't feel my left side?" Naruto croaked. "What's the damage?"

Sakura hesitated. Her eyes looking around as if hoping someone else could answer that question. "Ehi," Naruto whispered. "It's fine, really."

"You have a lousy definition of fine, Naruto," Sakura exhaled out, sounding defeated. "Your arm was mushed, your left ribcage shattered and it was a miracle the floating ribs didn't pierce your lungs or heart. Your stomach was perforated. You were bleeding internally so badly Sensei had no idea what to do with you…then you suddenly started to heal, and we thought it was over but…" her voice trailed off. "It suddenly stopped again."

"So…how am I now?"

"Your left arm is inoperable at present, Naruto," Yugao quipped as she neared them from the side –Sakura nearly jumped: she hadn't heard her sensei arrive. "But you should be able to walk within the end of the week; I suppose you'd want to be carried by Sakura still?"

Sakura's face took on the same tint as her hair.

Naruto raised a puzzled eyebrow. "What about Sai?"

"Dickless," Sai remarked calmly. "When you're awake, you are a danger to my behind."

Naruto coughed out a dry chuckle, which then became a fit of coughing that had Sakura bring her left hand to rest on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. "How can I be a danger if I'm without a dick?" he retorted back.

Sai remained quiet for a moment.

The pale skinned boy blinked, turning thoughtful. He looked about to say something, his mouth open, when he closed it again and returned to think.

"I think you broke Sai," Sakura whispered, not low enough to go unheard by the rest of the team. "Look at him: he's trying so hard…"

"It's kind of cute, really," Naruto retorted with a smirk. "He's flapping about like a fish."

Yugao shook her head slowly. She tapped Sai's shoulder. "Don't worry about finding a comeback. Just admit defeat."

Finally, Sai's eyes lit up. "It's because you use a strap-on."

"You know," Sakura sighed, shaking her head. "You should have just accepted defeat gently."

Yugao-sensei checked Naruto's bandages, before nodding to herself. "Yes, they're coming along nicely. Not as fast as usual though…are you all right, Naruto?"

"Yeah," he winced as the lie came out smoothly. "I'm all right."

"Understood," Yugao nodded. "Very well, we're breaking camp in two hours…so you can catch up on what happened while you were knocked out."

"Sensei?" Naruto hesitated, biting his lip slightly. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes?"

"In private?"

Sakura frowned. Sai said nothing. Yugao merely nodded and gave a quick glance to Naruto's teammates, and after a brief moment of glaring between Sakura and Yugao, the two Chuunin left.

"What is it, Naruto?"

"What will happen to Sakura and Sai?"

Yugao breathed in slowly, before answering calmly. "Sakura acted without waiting for orders, endangering not only herself but her teammates, and making a situation worse for no gain towards Konoha. If…If she is lucky, she will be reprimanded and brought back down to Genin rank, while...being moved to another team. Sai followed his teammate, but he can be considered as having simply tried to stop her and will get off lightly."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. "But…"

"Naruto," Yugao's eyes narrowed. "She went against a direct order from her superior _on the battlefield_. Orders are absolute to shinobi: she betrayed that."

"And what if she didn't?" Naruto asked then. "What if…what if I asked her to come?"

"You didn't, and the report has already been sent."

"Yeah, but I wasn't awake. What if…What if I have a mean of communication that is private between us?"

Yugao closed her eyes and exhaled. "What you are asking me to do is shift the blame to _you_, right?"

"I'm the Jinchuuriki of Konoha, sensei," Naruto chuckled grimly. "They won't say shit to me. There was a lack of working coms from inside, so I sent through the private mean of communication a request for immediate help. We didn't tell you about it, so I'm the one at fault for not having included you."

"But I know you have such a mean," Yugao remarked. "And…listen, Naruto: if you cover for her, and she does this again…"

"She won't," Naruto said then. "I swear sensei; I'll make sure she doesn't do this again."

Yugao sighed. She looked to the side where a few meters away Sakura was fidgeting together with Sai, straining her neck as if trying to listen in. "Only this once, Naruto," she retorted. "And this…we don't talk about this ever again."

"Understood sensei," Naruto nodded slowly. "Thank you," he shyly added, bowing his head.

The Anbu-Jounin simply smiled at that, and ruffled the boy's hair. "Don't make it a habit."

Sai had been watching the scene unfold calmly. Two seconds later, and he was slowly walking backwards from Sakura. Her hair was slowly rising, as chakra lapsed around her head like a crown of flames. Her eyes were cold and steely, as she clenched both hands to her sides and ground her teeth furiously.

"Pedophile bitch."

Guren sneezed.

"Lurid cradle-robber."

Guren sneezed again.

"Doesn't she already have a boyfriend? What is it? Does she want to try someone younger?" Sakura muttered murderously. "Naruto's mine," she grunted out crossing her arms over her chest. She looked down for a moment, giving a brief glance at her 'assets'. "Maybe it's the breasts. Is bigger better?"

Sai had meanwhile kept on walking backwards. He was pretty much half-way on the other side of camp by then, but he still wasn't sure it was a safe distance.

"Sai? Do you have…" Sakura's eyes turned to where Sai was supposed to be, only to find out he wasn't there. "Fine, never mind," she grumbled returning to watch Naruto act _shyly_. It was so cute, having his head slightly down and with his cheeks reddish.

Then the bitch ruffled Naruto's hair.

"Bitch. Bitch. Pedophile wrench. Bitch. Cradle-robber. Child snatcher."

Guren kept on sneezing for a while. "Are you all right, Guren-san?" a timid voice asked near her.

"Yes, Yukimaru, I'm fine," she smiled back. "I think it might just be someone talking about me."

"I hope they're saying nice things about you, Guren-san," Yukimaru said shyly.

Guren puffed her chest out. "Of course they are! Who wouldn't?"

Sakura finished her tirade when her sensei finally finished acting like some sort of two-Ryo whore with Naruto, and gestured to her and Sai who had apparently returned back to Naruto, together with Jiraiya who was in the process of writing down a few notes on his notepad.

There was a large '_Icha-Icha, Forbidden Young Love –First Draft'_ written on the cover of the notepad.

"Naruto," Jiraiya said firmly, looking around to make sure no-one was eavesdropping on them. "Did something happen with the Kyuubi?"

Naruto blinked. "Uh?"

"Uzumaki have a high vitality," he remarked. "Not nigh-infinite regeneration. That's the Kyuubi's chakra at work and now it's gone, so _something_ happened."

"Yes," he bitterly muttered, his gaze moving from Jiraiya to the clouds. "Something happened."

"And?" the Sannin insisted.

"He won't be a problem for a while."

"That's…that's not what I wanted to hear, Naruto," Jiraiya sighed. "Listen, with the war coming, you will need to learn how to harness the Kyuubi's chakra and–"

"Out of question, Jiraiya-sama," Naruto interrupted the toad sage. "Any amount of chakra used…and he gains control, a little bit at time is all he needs to break free."

"The Yondaime's seal is solid," Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "There's no way it could break through."

"The Yondaime's seal _was not closed_," Naruto snarled back at the Toad Sage. "It leaked the Kyuubi's chakra _willingly_ in me," he narrowed his eyes, "While it _shouldn't_ have."

"Minato knew what he was doing," Jiraiya rebuffed him. "And it's unheard of a Jinchuuriki who can't control his Bijuu."

"Then I'll be the first," Naruto said. "And the seal…" he shuddered. "The seal's _gone_."

Jiraiya _looked_ old and senile, but he wasn't a Sannin for nothing. The moment Naruto's 'gone' had been uttered, the Sannin had already ripped apart the boy's vest to check on it, after pushing the boy down and making him scream in pain from the push.

"Ehi!" Sakura exclaimed, trying to tackle the man away but failing miserably as she was swatted away like a fly. The pink-haired girl went tumbling, while Sai merely stood watching the scene, before remarking.

"Jiraiya-sama, please refrain from raping my teammate."

"I'm not raping him!" the old man exclaimed affronted. "I'm just checking his seal!"

"Non-consensual touching is rape," Sai replied firmly. "You cannot use your rank as Sannin to abuse shinobi of Konoha…it's in the Shinobi Regulations."

"They actually made a law for that!?" the sage looked affronted.

"Hokage-sama deemed it a necessary precaution for a sixty years old pervert," Sai replied as if he was quoting someone.

"Damn the old geezer," Jiraiya cursed under his breath.

"Ouch," Naruto whispered. Sakura's face turned angrily towards the Sannin after that.

"You're hurting him!" she accused the sage, "Can't you see that!?"

"I know what I'm doing," Jiraiya rebuked her, before moving his hands across the ink seal on Naruto's stomach, which was slowly fading away. "This is…it's impossible," he retorted. "There is a need for a key to completely open it. I know, Minato gave _me_ the key to the seal. There is no way the seal could be completely opened without it."

"The seal was overpowered," Naruto said slowly. "It wasn't opened. It was shattered."

"That's impossible," Jiraiya shook his head. "The Kyuubi would have had to get exponentially stronger since the sealing, or your seal needed to be weakened tremendously for it to happen and there's no way it could have…" his voice died down.

"Orochimaru," the sage whispered. "No," the man shook his head. "He couldn't have. You two never met, did you?"

Naruto frowned. "No, we didn't."

"Good, good," the sage sighed. "It must be the Kyuubi then, I suppose," he exhaled. "The Hokage will have to know about this. How are you keeping him down?"

"It's a failsafe of the seal," Naruto replied. "It completely blocks him."

"So…we have a Jinchuuriki who can't use his Bijuu," Jiraiya grimaced. "I'll have to draw a seal on you to make sure you can actually _use_ his chakra."

"Why?" Sakura asked, her hands hovering over Naruto's chest protectively. "Why can't you leave him alone?"

"Konoha needs its weapon," Sai was the one who spoke firmly and without inflection. "Without it, there can be no peace."

"Sai!" Sakura was shocked, and as she clenched her right hand to her chest and gritted her teeth, she had a hurtful look on her face…as if she had been betrayed. "You can't believe that too, can you?"

"That is the will of the Hokage," Sai replied truthfully. "That is the will of the clans, of the Anbu…of the Shinobi. Konoha _needs_ its weapon," he looked at Sakura. "It's the _truth_."

"Well, since you aren't moving anywhere for a week I'll take care of it," Jiraiya muttered, interrupting the tense silence that had slowly seeped in around the Konoha team. "I'll write it on your back –it should be enough to keep the beast at bay if I make one that covers all of it. You'll have to go shirtless until the ink dries but…"

"Jiraiya-sama, we're moving _North_," Yugao muttered. "And we're in October."

"It's not like we'll hit a mountain by the end of the week with the pace we're going at," the Sannin retorted. "And he'd have to stay shirtless for small bouts in the day, not twenty-four hours for an entire week:"

Yugao still seemed unconvinced, but Sakura was the one who solved the problem.

"Naruto? Do _you_ want it?"

She asked Naruto, who had been keenly listening in silence at Sai's words, and then at Jiraiya's.

He closed his eyes for a moment to think. If he said no, then maybe Yugao-sensei would do nothing for Sakura, or maybe she would do it anyway, but the rest of Konoha would end up in a war because he would not be able to control the Kyuubi.

If he said yes…he would have to —eventually— deal with the Kyuubi once more. Then again, he wasn't doing this for himself. He was doing this for the others. He'd be a bright example of light in a world of darkness and he'd be one by doing the _right_ thing rather than the _easy_ one.

His hands would have trembled, if he could have moved them. He was scared but…wasn't courage all about facing one's own fear?

"All right," he exhaled.

Jiraiya grimly nodded to his words, before starting to prepare his ink and his brush. "Well, we have a few hours of rest: so we better get started. Grit your teeth," he advised as he deftly turned Naruto on his stomach. Naruto hissed in pain but said nothing more.

Sakura watched the scene unfold with her hands clasped together, as her right foot was grounding against the dirt in small concentric patterns.

"Ehi," a voice called to her, making her spin around to look for the owner. "Your teammate woke up?"

The girl who spoke was the orange haired girl with the dark blue wool cap. Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Who wants to know?"

"Sasame Fuma," the girl retorted angrily. "And I was just worried. There's no need to act so stuck up, Konoha-nin."

"There is no need to be worried, Otogakure-nin," Sakura grinned back nervously. "Why don't you just go back to the hole you crawled out from?"

Sasame's eyes widened briefly, before they narrowed in suspicion.

"Don't you even feel a bit of remorse?" Sasame asked then, looking straight at Sakura's eyes. "Your actions…you killed many of my friends because of them."

"They were a menace to my team," Sakura hissed. "They attacked us."

"They attacked _you_ because _you_ attacked them first!" Sasame angrily spat back. "Have some shame!"

"If it isn't one of my teammates, why should I care?" Sakura rebuked her. "In this world everyone looks out for himself! Why don't you grow up?"

"Tch!" Sasame spat at Sakura's feet. "You're an eye-sore Konoha-bitch."

"And you're probably a no-good whore," the pink-haired Chuunin spat right back at the girl.

"You're just a murderer for hire, you have no soul!"

"And you're a failure of a bitch that should be drowned!"

Sai watched the two girls suddenly stop talking, but coldly start to eye each other with a look akin to a silent verbal spar. Slowly, they began to circle one another.

"What's your problem anyway? Sad there's not Orochimaru to torture you up?"

"And what's your chip on the shoulder uh? Your teammates are so much trash that you need to—"

Sakura began to growl.

"_Never. Insult. My. Teammates_."

"Fists only," Yugao stated firmly as she suddenly found herself next to Sai.

On the other side, Hanzaki exhaled and in the end nodded towards Sasame. It was all that it took the two girls to lounge at one another. Sakura tried to punch with her right fist Sasame's stomach, only for the girl to deftly sidestep and swing her own arm to hook with Sakura's neck. Sakura bowed down to avoid the grip, bringing her left hand to slam into the sides of the Otogakure kunoichi.

Sasame's knee rose up, slamming into Sakura's face before the girl finished bringing the right hand up to strike at the enemy kunoichi in the stomach. The Otogakure girl let Sakura go as the fist connected like a solid slug of steel. The two took their distances, their guards now up.

"Bitch!"

"Whore!"

"Is that all you can do!?" Sasame spat out. "Too busy looking pretty?"

"And what about you uh? What's with that blue hat? Your brain's empty and it catches cold quickly?"

"It's a fight, not a talking match," Sai deadpanned. "Cherry, finish her."

"With pleasure," Sakura grinned as she screamed, before charging in fist held up high.

Sasame smirked at the visible opening in the girl's defense, and as she brought her left fist to slam home, Sakura was the one who actually smiled sweetly before spinning to the left and using the _elbow_ to knock the wind out of the girl.

The moment Sasame kneeled down, Sakura grabbed the girl's hair with her hand and…

"Payback, bitch."

She slammed her knee against Sasame's face, before pulling her hair back and slapping the Otogakure kunoichi with both of her hands.

She then proceeded to pounce on her, straddling the now hazy enemy. "This…" Sakura spat out a dribble of blood from her mouth as she spoke, "Is why you don't mess with me."

"All right," Yugao's hand deftly caught Sakura's wrist before she could pummel the girl's face to mush. "It's enough. You've got it all out of your system?"

"You hit like…a pussy," Sasame coughed out weakly from the ground. Sakura stood up, casually letting her knee grind a bit in Sasame's now tender stomach before averting her gaze sheepishly from her sensei's sight.

"Yes sensei," Sakura answered to Yugao, ignoring the wounded Otogakure kunoichi who two Oto shinobi carried away slowly.

"Next time, Cherry," Sai said as Sakura moved closer to him. "Fight in the mud."

"Trying to insist on perverted jokes won't make your previous words any less heavy, Sai," the pink haired Genin whispered. "Are you certain about your words?" she asked then hesitantly. "Like…really certain?"

Sai frowned, before finally nodding grimly. "All shinobi are tools for war. Jinchuuriki even more…it is…highly possible that should he fail to control the Kyuubi," his voice was but a whisper now, as he slowly moved back to Naruto's side. "He would be killed, the demon extracted and placed into a new host."

"The Hokage would never do that," Sakura remarked.

"The Hokage…" Sai's voice lowered itself. "_Probably would vote the petition himself_."

Sakura froze on the spot, watching Sai's back as it moved further away from her —her face was flaring up from the pain, and her skin was probably even then marring because of the bruises but…but to those words, she couldn't help but still.

The question wasn't why Sai had spoken with certainty. The question was…

The question was _how_ he could effortlessly _believe_ in something like that.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's hands trembled as he read the report. His eyes widened in _fear_ and his breathing grew erratic. The Land of the Sky was _back_?

He remembered it. He remembered having to ally with all the other nations to tear it down. He remembered that technology of the old world —that power, that…that sheer…that sheer magnificence of destruction.

Moreover, he knew they had all vowed to hide it from the others. They had all _vowed_ to keep the location of where it had crashed a secret, to let the ocean claim the spoils of it forever.

What use would there be for ninjas, if flying machinery could tear apart buildings?

What use would there be for shinobi villages, if one could find them by flying in the sky?

What need was there for walls, when the attacks came from _above them_?

Why pay the ninjas…when one could pay the Land of the Sky itself?

"Send a message to the couriers," Sarutobi whispered. "Orochimaru has the land of the Sky…and it is _operational_ once more." The Sandaime shuddered. "Send another message to Mifune of the Land of Iron. Induct a meeting on private grounds of all the Kage."

The old Sandaime paled visibly then. "And…and what of Danzo?"

"Danzo-sama remained behind," the Anbu replied. "He…he bought us time to run."

"That stupid old man," Hiruzen clenched his fists. "You've got your orders: you're dismissed!"

As the last of the Anbu left, Hiruzen looked at the reports with a heavy and ragged breathing, his hands still shaking from the effort of giving his orders.

The casualties…the casualties were staggering. It hadn't been a mobilization, but…but half a mile of ground had been _vaporized_ into nothingness. They talked of the Kage and the S-rank shinobi as one-man armies but…but to do such a feat in so little…

To do such an action with but the push of a button…Orochimaru had to have gone mad. There was no other explanation.

There really was no other reason that could explain why he, who had been so vehemently opposed to capturing the Land, suddenly had changed his mind.

'It wasn't shinobi-like', those had been his words…and yet now…

_Why_? Why had he gone against his very words? Orochimaru would have never done something like that! Why did his student, the one he had loved dearly as his own child…why would he do this?

There was no choice in the matter…he had to give the Kage Bunshin technique to Naruto. He had to have him devote his entire time to training, to fighting, to learning how to _kill_.

There simply wasn't another way now. The threat was too great, too mighty and too…it was too _horrible_.

Hiruzen gritted his teeth as a strong pain flared through his chest. His heartbeat grew erratic for a moment…and then he suddenly _stopped_ feeling.

He fell limp, his face down against the wooden desk as life left his body and murky darkness covered his eyes. He had fought to his very last breath…he had battled against…everything, but…

The shinigami was not a patient God.

"Ah…" he murmured. "So…" he whispered. "I'm…coming…Biwako."

With those words…Hiruzen Sarutobi, Kami of Shinobi, the Professor…

_Died_.

Orochimaru watched with a bored and dispassionate look Shinno's rambling about how Konoha was meant to be destroyed first. He raised an eyebrow. Was the man really thinking he _wasn't_ going to _destroy_ that village?

"Orochimaru-sama," a snake whispered to his ear, having slowly slid on his shoulder. "It happened."

The garden snake dispersed in smoke a moment later, just as Orochimaru stood up from his seat in the 'conference' room deeply rooted within the Land of the Sky headquarters.

"Orochimaru? Where are you going?" Shinno asked perplexed. "We must discuss—"

"Silence," the snake sannin spat back raising his left hand, "I have to go."

He left a shocked 'doctor' behind, but he couldn't care less about it. The garden snake had been clear. Hiruzen Sarutobi, his sensei…he was no more.

He supposed the old man could have foreseen the snake in his garden belonging to him, but then again he had never acted upon that knowledge. Orochimaru had said nothing, and as such…well, he had always an eye on the Sarutobi's compound garden, where his sensei began to sip tea tranquilly during the late afternoon and the night, just as _he_ did the same in Otogakure or around the world.

Was the old man expecting him to drink tea with him? Was he the believer of some sort of 'soul' connection throughout space? He didn't believe in that, but…but Orochimaru still drank his tea at the same time as the old man did.

Now he was dead.

His body would rot in the earth.

The muscles would decay. The bones would grind to dust. The maggots would fill his flesh and plant eggs, which would then birth larvae that later would become maggots once more.

The cycle of life: that putrid excuse that passed for balance in a world that was rotten to the core.

He would tear it apart with his own hands.

He wasn't doing this for himself.

No.

He had…

He remembered when it had started.

It hadn't been for him. It hadn't been for the death of his parents, for the desire to bring them back.

No.

It had been…

It had been because his sensei had lost his light after the death of his wife. _That_ had made him start the research. He wanted to make a perfect gift for his sensei.

All he received back for his effort was _exile_…and he had taken it, nobly he had decided to sacrifice himself so that the others would not suffer. There was no reason to look for a 'why'. He was a twisted individual, and that much would suffice as an excuse. It wasn't because of his sensei's wife, or because of Tsunade's lover and younger brother that he had begun experimenting.

It wasn't because of Jiraiya and his hurt at never saying those precious words to the woman he had loved. It wasn't because there was so much suffering in the world that he had begun looking for a cure to it, for a solution to Death.

It wasn't because of that.

He was Orochimaru, and he was twisted. He was evil for no other reason but evil itself.

He repeated that, time and time again, until he grew to believe it.

Yet…

Yet he could not keep that up now, in this moment.

His sensei was dead. The one who had been there in the place of his parents, who had consoled him, taught him, who had been a willing shoulder on which to cry. He was dead.

And he had never been able to tell him the _words_ he had meant to, the words…

Orochimaru clenched his fists and slammed them against the wall of his office, the metallic sheen twisting as his hands delved deep into the alloy.

He had shed blood for his village. He had infiltrated Kumogakure, made the Hachibi rampage throughout the village killing young and old at the same time only to end the war sooner, to force Kumo into submission!

He had done that which Tsunade had refused to do, and which Jiraiya had screamed against his sensei for.

He had done what he had to for his village. He had done…He had done well, hadn't he?

"Have I done well?" he whispered to the wall.

"Tell me, sensei…Am I still human?" he asked once more, looking at his hand.

He screamed as he tore apart the corpse he inhabited, emerging as the white snake, the monster he had become. "Am I…am I still human?" he snarled, as he tore with his teeth against his own flesh.

Blood splattered around the room, dark and rotting. Purple fumes began to rise from it, slowly obscuring from view the bleeding form of Orochimaru's true form.

"Were my sacrifices in vain, sensei?"

A low raspy chuckle escaped the snake's lips.

"Are sacrifices worthy of being let go?" he chuckled louder. "Should I…let my sacrifices be in vain?"

The fumes dispersed, as Orochimaru walked out once more inside the corpse of his host. "No." He snarled as he opened the door and closed it behind him.

"No sacrifice will ever be in vain."

He closed his eyes as he stepped through the damp and dark corridors, walking towards the area where his men were. There was a wide courtyard filled with mannequins and benches, where many of his shinobi were talking one with the other. As he arrived, they all stilled as mice caught by the snake, and watched him with baited breath —probably trying to figure out why he had come there.

His eyes fell on Hebi, who was sheepishly trying to launch a kunai against a wooden mannequin resembling a shinobi, with two big red circles over the heart and the head. Her entire posture was wrong, probably self-taught, and yet not a single shinobi or kunoichi had moved forward to help her.

He supposed that was to be expected.

He slowly made his way silently behind her, and then waited. He watched her try.

She tried it once.

She tried it twice, thrice, fourth times she threw a kunai only for it to bounce off against the walls to the sides of the mannequin she was supposed to hit. She was down to a single kunai, when he made a gentle coughing noise.

The girl didn't turn. "Don't distract me, please," she whispered. "I have to do this."

He raised an eyebrow and remained quiet.

"At least one," she seemed to be pleading god. "At least _once_."

Hebi threw the kunai then, and just by looking at it going…it was clearly off trajectory. The girl dropped her shoulders down and turned, only to freeze and widen her eyes at Orochimaru's appearance.

"Orochimaru-sama!" she squeaked, before remembering what she had said before. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Orochimaru's pinkie finger twitched, and a small gust of wind redirected the kunai to hit the bull's eye of the mannequin's heart.

"Looks like you hit once," the snake sage said then, gesturing for her to turn around. She frowned, and then she spun to stare at the kunai firmly stuck in the mannequin's breast.

"No," she shook her head. "I didn't." She whispered.

"Are you calling me a liar, girl?"

"_What's fair is fair…Orochimaru-sama, I didn't hit it! You did! How can I be a kunoichi of Konoha if I can't hit a bull's eye by myself!?" the orphan's eyes were pleading, pleading him not to help her but just to let her practice by herself. She wanted to become better alone, without help._

_He was intrigued._

"_We are shinobi, we should cheat," he had replied._

"_But not on training! I have to be honest with myself at least…how am I going to pass the Genin exam? I need that money and…and I suck at kunai throwing! I'll never get that part down in time…and what if they send me to the front? But this…this I have to do it on my own! I can't cheat of my training!"_

"Please don't kill me, Orochimaru-sama," Hebi whimpered. "I'm sorry. I just…I don't want to be a weight please…"

Her cheeks were red and her eyes puffy, as her lips quivered while she stared at the Snake Sannin who could kill her with ease.

Orochimaru did not answer. He simply turned around and moved to leave. Hebi remained there puzzled, up until the snake sage stilled in mid-walk. "Your posture is completely wrong," he said, before palming a kunai from his sleeve and throwing it deftly. It soared in the air and struck straight through the hand of a kunoichi who had been whispering about how 'Hebi would get it' for being a failure. The kunoichi did not scream, but she did pale and hold the wrist of her wounded hand, before foam began to form in her mouth as she died from the poisonous toxin.

"That is how you throw a kunai," Orochimaru said once more. "Have someone in here teach you. If they refuse…I can always use some target practice."

Then he left the courtyard.

He actually _wondered_ as he left and headed towards the laboratories: what was his old student doing now?

Anko Mitarashi was holding on to the body of Danzo Shimura, as kilometers beneath the land of the Sky, the two of them evaded their pursuers' attacks —well, she was the one doing the dodging since the old man was too wounded to move much, thus she had to carry him.

The creepy thing was the face of the first Hokage sporting from his wounded arm. That and the sharingan eyes that nested into the arm closed all but one. She wasn't going to remark on it, especially because they were escaping from a highly superior force composed of troops belonging to a strange and old clan that had some grudge with Danzo himself, apparently…

They would reach Konoha in a few weeks and yet…yet she didn't know if _she_ was going to make it, especially if she had to carry the great old lump of weight on her shoulders.

"Leave me here," the old shinobi said firmly.

"Ehm, listen Taichou," Anko remarked as she jumped downwards, avoiding a crescent blade of wind that soared in the air and neatly cut apart a few branches. "Not that I mind but…are you sure?"

"Take my arm and go," Danzo replied. "Do not let the sharingan fall in enemy hands."

"And what about you?"

"Let's face it: you were tasked by Hiruzen to assassinate me if I proved disloyal to Konoha. Just leave me here and take the eye from my arm. Only the eye!"

"And how am I going to do that?! Konoha's weeks away and the eye will rot unless…"

"Do what you must," he snarled. She didn't let the man repeat himself twice.

She gouged the sharingan eye, dropping Danzo behind and giddily starting to run away leaving the 'Yami of Shinobi' down as if he was nothing more than extra baggage.

She was going to have a _sharingan_ now!

Everything would be better after that! Oh, she was going to become as strong as Kakashi, the bastard!

Behind her, Danzo exhaled slowly as he let himself drop against the tree trunk. His back ached, his entire body felt heavy. He had used Izanagi too many times to give time to the recon teams to leave, he had attracted the enemy nins attentions, and had fought and tore them down from the skies with the use of his wind techniques and summons…

But even he had his limits.

Now, the _past_ finally caught up to him.

Hannyashū.

The Anbu of the land of Wood that once was a nation by itself near Konoha's border, from whom he had gleamed the secret of dissociating oneself from the body, and that he had implemented alongside many other techniques into his Root training.

Then, as the final test, his Root forces had annihilated their country, making Konoha merge with it.

Now there they were, those who had survived, patiently encircling him.

His past was there…and now, now was the time to face it.

"Danzo," the leader smiled. "It's been a while."

"Hayato," Danzo coughed. "I knew I should have burned your corpse to make sure."

"We have come for you, old crone," Hayato said gleefully. "How does it feel? Can you believe the irony of the situation?"

"Come on then," Danzo smiled. "Help an old man up."

Hayato did so, before nodding to one of the men standing in semi-circle.

The man walked forward, removing his demon-like mask to show the same feature as those of Danzo, down to every little nick and wound.

"Orochimaru wanted a body as proof," Hayato remarked as he silently nodded once more to the man that so vividly resembled the Yami of shinobi.

There was a swift movement, and then the body double committed _Seppuku_ in front of them, his head rolling down on the ground as blood gushed to cover his clothes with it.

"So dies the Yami of shinobi," Danzo remarked quietly. "Where will Orochimaru 'pick' us up?"

"In the land of Wind," Hayatao replied smoothly, grinning slightly at Danzo's puzzled look.

"I see," the Yami of shinobi nodded slightly once. "Then I suppose there is no longer a need for this," with his free hand, blades of wind slashed at the arm created with Hashirama's cells. The arm twitched as it fell in mid-air, before slowly erupting into a giant tree that grew up to the point where it rivaled those nearby.

Stemming the bleeding with his remaining hand, Danzo's eyes settled over the horizon where the sun was falling.

"The shadow is stronger at dusk," the Yami of shinobi quipped.

"Is that the saying about the Kage being stronger the more there is a need for them?"

"In part," Danzo remarked as he began to bandage his wound before using his teeth to tightly compress the gauze. "It's a Nara proverb. Some say 'The shadow is stronger just before dawn' but what they all seem to forget…"

Danzo exhaled as he checked the bandage once more, before deeming it fit enough for him to march. "Is that in the night between dusk and dawn _darkness rules supreme_."

**Author's notes**

**We are nearing Shipuuden.**

**And the Land of the Sky is a rule-breaker, I understand why they tore it down.**

**Hiruzen died. Heart-attack. **

**Orochimaru has a nice break up.**

**Hebi looks cute even as she's about to die.**

**Naruto is going to die.**

**I probably lied somewhere in this AN.**

**Oh, and for those who worry…I'm a sucker for happy endings.**

**But I must try my hand at a sad one eventually…**

**But will it be with this story? Who knows…who knows?**


	38. The Light Dies

Introverted

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The land of Claws had deep crevices and fissures that naturally formed from the multiple rivers that crossed from the land of Fangs.

The fact that the rivers then connected with the sea, while the entirety of the land of Fangs was actually like a rocky cliff into the ocean, was what had begun tensions between the two close lands. The land of Claws demanded a tariff to the boats that passed to reach the sea, and the land of Fangs refused on the basis that the rivers began in their land, and thus meant it was 'theirs'.

Across the many rivers and chasms however, there stood stone or wood bridges to connect one side of the country to the other or to its neighboring nations. The bridges were also natural chokepoints, which meant that they were also natural ambush sites. That was probably what had made Jiraiya wary enough to separate the group in order to cover most of the column.

Naruto was at the end of the column, with the elderly and the young as well as with Hanzaki. A few kids of barely ten were walking alongside him, every now and then asking question about what it meant to be a shinobi. Sakura was at the head of the column, together with Yugao-sensei.

'Some distance would do her good' had been the sensei's words, and only after Naruto had acquiesced had Sakura strived to obey it.

Naruto grimaced at the thought of Sakura's face. She had looked…hurt and betrayed.

As he walked, one of the kids asked, his brown hair tied in a ponytail and his brown eyes shining with mirth —the beauty of innocence packed into a small body, and with a sweet smile to boot.

"Neh, Ninja-san!" the boy was smiling as he spoke, "Do you think we'll be happy where we're going?"

Naruto blinked, before nodding hesitantly. He had little experience with people being _happy_ no matter what the situation was. "I _hope_ so."

"Good! So my mom will stop crying now…" the boy frowned. "My dad's gone ahead, that's what my mom says. You think he's already found us a place to stay?"

Naruto inwardly looked around, before finally settling on a diplomatic answer.

"I'm sure he has," Naruto grimaced as he turned his gaze towards the back. There had been no subsequent attacks from the monsters, which was strange. There should have been something at the very least during the night, but…nothing.

"So, do you think the house will be big?" the boy asked with a toothy grin. "Like, really big? With four rooms or maybe even five?"

"Yes," Naruto nodded. "I'm sure the house will be big."

"And do you think I'll become a shinobi strong like you then?" the boy asked once more, eyes twinkling. Naruto mentally groaned. Where was the button to mute him?

"Yes," he ground out. "Now I'm trying to do my job, can you be quiet, _please_?"

The boy quieted down immediately, albeit sniffling. Naruto frowned as he gave one more look around: it was as if the 'trouble' had disappeared. That _couldn't_ be good.

Trouble never went away; it just moved somewhere else to strike harder.

His ears strained to hear the sounds beyond those of the _other_ children asking him questions about Konoha or if he was in a relationship with someone —that came from a shy eight years old girl. He shook his head. He was being paranoid for no reason: there wasn't an intelligence behind the monsters, so there simply was no way they'd know _where_ to attack.

Sai appeared next to him after a few minutes of walk, his pale appearance marred by a bruise to the side of his cheek. "Cherry slapped me."

"What did you do?" Naruto sighed.

"I told her you were old enough to take care of yourself," Sai remarked. "Well, I might have said something about you being able to choose your own Harem girls."

"I don't have a Harem, Sai," Naruto sighed.

"Jiraiya-Taichou also says that we are nearing the main bridge to enter the land of Claws," Sai said. "He says that once on the other side, it would be easy enough to proceed through."

"I see," he nodded. "Anything else?"

"The bridge is the easiest place to stage an ambush," Sai commented. "Jiraiya-Taichou says to be careful in the rear guard…do you find this _peace_ strange too?" Sai asked abruptly.

Naruto nodded. He had felt the same way. "There's something amiss."

"I'll go back to Jiraiya-Taichou now. Anything I must relay?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, I'm fine and I can move my arm now," the raven-haired boy smirked. "It's not the Kyuubi regeneration, but I can work with it."

Sai ran back ahead, leaving Naruto behind. The young Chuunin exhaled as his eyes looked to the sky. It was such a beautiful day…

The column of refugees reached the stone bridge they had to traverse with the sun still high in the sky, making an attack from the monsters something highly improbable. It was as Jiraiya decided to take the rear of the column, letting Naruto in the middle together with Sai that the attack, of course, happened.

There was a buzzing sound.

The buzzing noise soon grew as if a swarm of insects was nearing.

Hanzaki took that moment to curse loudly. "_**THEY GREW WINGS**_!"

Naruto's eyes widened briefly. He had asked them that question the first time they had met. He hadn't given it much thought but maybe…maybe there was something about them growing wings that made them _worse_?

Giant hulking brutes had been easy to dodge. These? These looked like completely different beasts as they soared in the sky with green wings of insect-like appearance —if not for the fact they were made of bones and a membrane similar to flesh, they would have looked like locusts…the ugly locusts' inbred cousins.

They soared through the air and _screeched_ as they descended upon the refugees.

"Keep your calm!" Jiraiya screamed from his position. "Keep them away from the civilians!" one of the monsters skittered to a hovering halt in front of Naruto, its wicked hands now curved scythes made of bone, as a tail swished behind it.

The eyes however…those were human and maddened by pain and grief.

Naruto rolled on the ground, taking with him the child closest to him as the beast attacked, slicing through the other kids who had been frightened to a halt near him and leaving behind only matted blood and torn apart corpses that screamed their last breath in pain.

Naruto didn't give more than a glance to the corpse of the nagging child of earlier, his mind blocking the thoughts of grief out because he still had a very much alive child in need of rescue between his arms.

Blood had splattered over Naruto's clothes, as he dodged the attack of another of those insect-like beasts to reach for the other side of the bridge, where Yugao-sensei was protecting the civilians that had traversed safely the bridge. He looked at Sai, who had followed and guarded his back up till then as he handed the child over to his grateful mother. "Sai! Give me some fire!"

The pale-skinned boy spewed flames upon the insects nearing on them, just as Naruto's own blades of wind soared in the air to enhance the deadly technique. The insects hit by the blast screeched, as the smell of charred flesh reached Naruto's nose making him frown but not overtly so. He ended up recalling the first time he saw death as he brought himself back to the center of the bridge where more civilians needed to be rescued.

He watched the insects scream and burn alive —while regenerating and still not dying— and he powerlessly gazed at the civilians he couldn't help as they were pierced by the scythe-limbs or devoured by the creatures alive. He hoped Jiraiya-sama would be able to hold off the air-brutes from the back long enough for the refugee to pass through.

The thought distracted him slightly from the scythe of one of the burning monster swiping towards his head, forcing him to jump backwards in order to avoid the monster's limb. That brought him in mid-air nearly to fall off the bridge, having misjudged the distance of the jump. Sai's ink-technique however conjured a whip, which surrounded Naruto's waist and brought him back to the safety of solid land.

Sakura joined them like a pink blur a moment later as she passed by a blazing ball of fire that was a screaming Otogakure shinobi, a kunai in her hand and steel wire bundled and held with the other free hand. She pulled the wire a moment later, letting it tighten and clasp around the insect-like wings of one of the monsters —that stopped the creature from flying, as it plummeted to its death.

"Yugao-sensei sent me to assist!" Sakura chirped happily. She was glad to be with her teammates once more and it showed —in the way she chippered about in the midst of the corpses and the monsters. "Yuck! They're nasty these ones!" she babbled as she skidded to a halt near Naruto. "Neh, Naruto-kun? If I'm a good girl, you'll forgive me right?"

"Sakura, not now!" Naruto barked back as his kunai came up to parry a scythe-limb. That was a mistake. The monsters _seemed_ lithe and frail compared to their ground counterparts, but in truth… they _weren't_. The bone protrusions cut through the steel of the normal kunai as if it was made of butter, neatly cutting in half Naruto's body.

Thankfully, a Kawarimi no Jutsu brought Naruto to swap with a nearby corpse, but it still was _not_ something pleasant to watch as the corpse of a civilian woman broke in half because of the scythes.

Sakura slapped a kunai against the right side of the monster, one riddled with explosive tags. She jumped back just as the monster's tail came in an arc to try and behead her, only managing to nick her stomach slightly. The tags primed and flashed, before detonating and leaving behind a mangled monster-corpse, whose right side had been completely smashed because of the explosion. The fact there was just a tiny amount of flesh and bones keeping the monster's two halves connected however…

It didn't even _seem_ to faze the thing, who simply soldiered on towards Sai while regenerating furiously. The pale-skinned boy held his paintbrush in front of him, drawing on a thicker and stronger parchment than before. "Sai! Move!" Sakura's scream did not faze him, as he kept on drawing.

"Dammit Sai!" Naruto barked as he jumped in, tackling the beast and sending a fist to slam and hook against one of its wings. The acidic feeling of the monster's skin made Naruto hiss in pain as he twisted the wing out of the socket to exhale the wind-blade technique right on the thing's back. Holes appeared on the monster's chest, but they closed within seconds once more.

"Why!? What the hell are you—" Naruto screamed as the tail twisted around his waist, before slamming him on the stone floor of the bridge.

Around him, Hanzaki was wielding his giant sword with both hands, slicing apart the monsters as his allies burned them with what they could. Guren too occupied them by turning them into crystal statues before other shinobi crumbled them, and Yugao-sensei had adopted a tactic of mixing steel wires and swordsmanship skills to sever them in tiny parts while holding the side of the bridge that was 'safe'.

Jiraiya of the Sannin had called forth what looked like a giant frog with two giant katana, and together with it was roasting the beasts in the air…or outright having the frog's tongue jump and stick the 'insects' one at the time. The fact that the frog croaked with pleasure after each 'fly'…that was just an extra.

Yet that didn't _matter_, because there still were more coming, and a monster was trying to charge at Sai. Sakura's own fire technique diverted the monster's attention from smashing into the dark haired teen that was still in the process of drawing —whatever he was drawing had to be either complicated, or terribly difficult to finish.

The monster was on fire as it slammed its scythe-like limbs on the ground, breaking away chunks of stone before charging with its insect-like wings once more. Horns of bones erupted from the monster's head, ending in sharp antler-like forms. Six scythe-limbs emerged from the monster's sides as it closed in with unparalleled speed on Sakura, the wicked blades ready to rend her apart.

The pink-haired Chuunin had the time to widen her eyes, before the blades came viciously down on her body. They pierced through her sides as the monster's mouth opened to reveal curved fangs, before…

Before the beast _tore_ through her neck vein and bit down hard on her lithe neck-muscles, moving its own neck backwards as blood erupted from the wound. The beast screeched as all of its muscles tensed and trembled…and finally _detonated_ in a shower of blood and fleshy pieces.

Sakura fell on the ground bleeding copiously, her entire frame wracked by trembling spasms. Her breathing grew erratic as she convulsed, but just as another one of those beasts moved closer to them, Sai finished his technique.

Naruto watched in horror Sakura falling on the ground, before closing the distance with whatever speed he could muster from his body —what was Jiraiya doing, letting so many pass through!? Couldn't he just do something about them!? He had toads for the love of Kami!

The second monster's scythes tried to come down on Sakura's convulsing body, but an Ink Oni with a giant Ink Club smashed into the beast, sending it flying away from her just as Naruto reached the fallen girl and grabbed his Yoroi Tanto.

"Sorry I'm late," Sai said before giving a wary glance to Sakura. "Call help," he added then, falling down on one knee near Sakura. "The technique is too taxing for me to maintain for much, Dickless."

Naruto's breathing grew slightly calmer. Sakura was convulsing, but she was still _alive_. Sai was taking care of her immediate health needs. They needed help. The Kyuubi refused to answer him, and as he bit down on his lips, he could feel the coppery taste of his blood mix with the earthy flavor of the ground. He wondered where the sand was now. He could _really_ use having two giant sand hands to help him in that moment!

The front of the bridge was nearly devoid of refugees. Those who hadn't saved themselves by moving past the bridge and further down the road in the land of Claws were those paralyzed in fear who _couldn't_ move and were down on the ground shivering and crying. The Oto shinobi were all battling for their lives, but already their breath was coming short. Naruto watched one of the shinobi from sound —a man wielding scissor-pincers— overextending his reach and ending up sliced and then _feasted_ _upon_ by three of those lab experiments.

A shrill echoed in the air as Naruto decided to begin moving towards Yugao-sensei —she had healed him, there was no reason she couldn't heal Sakura too— and that…that froze Naruto in his bones.

A giant looking mayfly of a deep cerulean color flew down from the head of the swarm of the monsters, her bushy antennas moving frantically around, as her mouth seemed half torn apart. One side looked monstrous, with buckteeth and giant black mosquito-like eyes. The other side was that of a frail-looking girl with teal hair. Her breasts hid behind thick cerulean straps, while her lower body resembled that of a giant bee —only made of flesh and bones, rather than chitin. She was flying on insect-like wings of teal color, wide but at the same time fuzzy and fleshy.

The moment the shrill was done, the meek voice of the otherwise horrendous monster resonated clearly in the air with the same tone of a young girl —a young emotionless girl.

And it spoke the name of a technique, rather than words.

"_Katon: Kasumi Enbu no Jutsu_," thick gas erupted from the monster-queen's mouth, as a dense fog suddenly darted forward to cover the bridge.

"Don't use fire techniques!" Guren's voice roared. "The gas is explos—"

Unfortunately, Jiraiya's toad had already drenched in oil a large part of the monsters the sannin had been battling, and the smoldering remains of a few still flared lightly.

All it took was a spark…

Naruto had barely the time to spin around, calling forth as much wind chakra he could create in such a short time, before exhaling it in the direction his teammates had been in the thick fog.

And a second later, the bridge _exploded_.

The fire went where there was the most _oxygen_, tearing apart monsters and shinobi alike on its path towards Naruto's mouth and face. The Jinchuuriki had barely the time to see the stone bridge splinter and break that the return fire slammed into his face and chest and sent him flying downwards, beyond the safety of the stone rail.

He saw a blur that he defined as Sai _jump_ from the bridge to try to grasp at him, opening a scroll on his back to call forth an ink eagle.

He looked at the blur getting closer and closer, and finally nearing him. His right arm went up, the one holding his Yoroi Tanto. Sai's hand grabbed his wrist, but the ground was nearing too fast.

Naruto shook his head.

Sai _didn't care._

He pulled Naruto up on his ink eagle, before slowly starting to slow down the fall with what chakra he could muster to make the creature flap its wings of ink. Sakura stood still through an ink rope, to avoid her falling down. The ground neared.

With a powerful scream from Sai —who normally would have never done so— the bird screeched too and finally defeated the momentum of gravity itself, starting to gain altitude once more.

Sai exhaled in relief as sweat poured down his face. He had done it. He had saved his teammates. This…this feeling…was it…was this what emotions meant?

He chuckled slightly as he turned to look at Naruto's status.

And there he felt the second emotion of his life: his heart plummeted as he watched Naruto smile at him awkwardly, burnt face and all…and then _jump_ Tanto in hand to stop the bull rushing of the giant flying monster who was pursuing them.

Sai _screamed_ as he watched the creature slam into Naruto's body, flying towards the deep end of the chasm they were leaving on the ink eagle. If he changed the direction of the ink bird, it would all be for naught and Sakura needed medical attention _badly_.

He…He had to bring Sakura to safety, and _hope_ that Naruto would be tough enough to survive. He was already starting to hate…feeling these 'emotions'.

Kurotsuchi couldn't believe the galls of her grandfather.

Not only was she out on a mission, but she was out as a recently minted Chuunin with the most horrible group _ever_. Akatsuchi and Jibachi, she had come to tolerate. Suzumebachi and Kurobachi…she felt the need to retch. Her father was leading the six Chuunin back from the land of Fangs, where they had gone to secure some supplies of minerals the Tsuchikage had a personal interest for.

She didn't know whether it felt degrading to have gone shopping for her grandfather, the fact he had the gall to call this a B-rank mission or the fact that it was a team of five Chuunin and a Jounin who had set out to strike the deal.

Her eyes fixed themselves on the road they were travelling a moment later, as she hoped this blessed silence could last. In just a second, she found herself cursing loudly as she snatched from mid-air a bee and proceeded to crush it.

"Suzumebaka! Keep your bees on yourself!"

"It's Suzumebachi, and I don't know what you're talking about, princess!" the other kunoichi deadpanned.

"Silence behind!" Kitsuchi barked. "We're nearing—"

Then an explosion made them stop and lose all semblance of bantering. Kitsuchi's eyes narrowed on the road ahead, before giving a single hand-sign to the rest of his team. Iwagakure's shinobi all learned as Genin the most important technique of their village: the Iwagakure Technique. Of course, they also learned that trying to teach it to someone else was a crime punishable by death, and that if they even thought about doing so they would have a meeting with the Torture and Interrogation department of Iwa.

They all did before they finished their academy anyway, but some went there sooner rather than later.

Merging in the ground, Kitsuchi began to move his body forward leaving behind a trail of pebbles easy to find and follow by any Iwagakure shinobi worth the rank of Chuunin, and set to move his head above the ground the bare minimum to see what the trouble was about every now and then.

Two things he saw first: the missing bridge and the shinobi on one side of it.

They sported a vast amount of Otogakure headbands, but there was a glint of…he swallowed nervously. Jiraiya of the Sannin was an enemy with a 'Run on Sight' order. S-rank shinobi always were. Nothing less than an army could generally bring them down, and they always had either a technique that made them true monsters, or something that made them quite a cut above the others: Jinchuuriki were automatically S-ranks, for example.

The thing he realized next was that there was a stench in the air of burned corpses and rotten flesh, mixed with quite a bit of people —civilians, judging by their lack of weapons— crying at the border of the chasm. He slowly emerged from the ground and brought both his hands up in a sign of peace —which probably saved his life, since the eyes of the Sannin zeroed on him from the moment he had stopped _moving_ nearby.

It was as the rest of his team emerged that he began to walk forward. "Has the war with Oto already ended, Jiraiya-san?"

"No," Jiraiya shot back. "These here are refugees from Orochimaru's madness."

"What happened to the bridge!?" Kurotsuchi exclaimed then, pointing at the crumbled form. "Why did you blow it up!?"

"We didn't," Jiraiya rebuffed Kitsuchi's daughter, making the Iwa Jounin mentally curse. That was no moment to antagonize a Sannin: they had no means to escape an encounter and if they died, the blame would shift to the land of claws in an _instant_.

"We'll find another way through then," Kitsuchi remarked as he made to turn his head to 'nudge' his team into leaving.

"Not so fast," Jiraiya said, with a smile on his face. "I know you Iwagakure shinobi can pretty much work with earth easily, right?"

"Yes," Kitsuchi gritted his teeth. "What help might you need?"

"Father!" there Kurotsuchi went again, "Why are you actually _willing_ to help them!?"

"Kurotsuchi," Kitsuchi hissed. "_Be quiet_."

Kurotsuchi recoiled slightly, before huffing and crossing her arms over her chest. Suzumebachi just smirked at that display, before letting her bees slowly start flying behind her —just in case things went sour quick.

"Could you build a temporary bridge?" the sannin answered to Kitsuchi. "It doesn't have to last much: we just need to link with the other side of the chasm: there are some refugees who remained there and many aren't able to jump by."

"We will," Kitsuchi nodded, before turning to look at his squad. "You heard Jiraiya-san! Start working!"

He then moved closer to the sannin, having seen the subtle gesture. He didn't glance back at Suzumebachi, even though he did squish the bee that had tried to hook to his vest: the Kamizuru clan needed to learn to stop trying to one-up others.

"Jiraiya-san?" he asked in a low voice as he followed the Toad Sage away from the refugees. "What can I help you with?"

"We have lost some Chuunin during the battle," Jiraiya spoke slowly, grimacing as he did. "They were in the middle of the bridge when it exploded, and because of that we are need of someone to look at the bottom of the chasm for it," the Sannin's eyes shifted dangerously towards his own daughter. "We can consider it an exchange, can we?"

Kitsuchi exhaled slowly, before nodding imperceptibly. That made the Sannin smile brightly as the white haired shinobi gave him a wide pat on the back. "That's my good old friend! I knew you'd help us!"

The Jounin of Iwagakure grumbled, but said nothing else. He moved to the border of the chasm and looked down —there were at least a few hundreds of meters before the river down below… the man was really expecting them to have survived if they had fallen?

He was just about to jump down, when a black ink eagle emerged from beneath, depositing a tired looking Sai and a foaming from the mouth Sakura in his arms.

Sai had a dark bruise over his right eye, but he still managed to drop his teammate into Yugao's arms before falling on the ground face first, completely spent. The ink eagle slowly melted back down to an inky puddle, and remained there immobile like its creator.

"We're short one," Jiraiya's voice was stern. Kitsuchi naturally tensed.

Of course, the man had made it seem like an everyday mission with no other reason for asking his help, _but_ the Tsuchikage had told his shinobi of who the new Jinchuuriki was…as well as whom his teammates were. They had all memorized their faces: it is never a smart idea to harm someone a veritable weapon of mass destruction considers a friend...villages had toppled for far _less_.

So with two of the Konoha's Jinchuuriki there…the third one that was missing could only be…

"Jiraiya-sama! I need your help here now!" the purple haired woman spoke crisply to the Sannin, her hands covered in blood as she held down the foaming pink haired girl. "She's…_what is this_!?"

The Sannin's eyes narrowed on Kitsuchi for a brief moment, before he spoke firmly. "Go and get the boy and bring him back _alive_…understood?"

"Yes, Jiraiya-san," Kitsuchi nodded awkwardly before doing just that.

As the Iwagakure Jounin jumped down, Jiraiya moved quickly to Sakura's side. Her neck was no longer bleeding, but pulsing tumorous masses began to spread from the wound, slowly rotting away the flesh as her skin blistered and reddened.

A seal similar to that of the Cursed Mark of Heaven formed, before pulsing corroded Nature chakra into the girl's body, molding her body together with it. Jiraiya cursed as he began to work. He couldn't worry about his godson now. He had to worry about getting the girl to _live_. The seal worked fast, but he wasn't renowned as the Fuinjutsu expert of Konoha for no reason: he was _good_ at what he did. The first five containment seals he drew the cursed heaven seal tore apart with ease— he just managed to get time enough to devise a few more, until they all finally settled in one after the other. What Mitarashi Anko had settled for was nothing compared to what the girl had to feel on her skin.

He had done his work abruptly, quickly and without actually pondering but as it was…the tumorous mass was receding back where it came from —on the neck.

"She has to be killed before she transforms," Hanzaki took that moment to speak, as the Otogakure shinobi walked closer to where he was working. "No amount of sealing is going to work."

"You knew about this?" Jiraiya hissed. "Maybe you should give me this information now, rather than wait until you have been successfully escorted to your new home," the Toad sage growled.

Hanzaki recoiled, bringing his face downwards to the side in shame, before replying.

"That's how…they reproduce. Orochimaru used some of the clan as lab rats: they were the first…the thing you saw? I recognized her…she was such a sweet child, and now…"

"What. Did. They. Do. To. My. Student." Yugao's hands firmly grasped Hanzaki's clothes by the neck. "_What_!?"

"It's the cursed seal of heaven," Jiraiya said then abruptly as he watched the seal flaring one last time before settling in, taking on the appearance of a strange shuriken-like form that somehow eerily reminded him of Itachi's Mangekyou sharingan. "A variation of it at least."

"The creatures undergo stages of evolution," Hanzaki murmured. "Depending on how much they feed or how much they are wounded."

"They absorb nature chakra to heal their wounds," Jiraiya mumbled. "That makes sense; they must work with a lot of cellular division and regeneration…but their lives…they're short."

"Like butterflies," Hanzaki grimaced. "They can stay months in the 'Earth' form, but once that form is done they move on to the 'Heaven' one. That doesn't last more than a day or two."

"And what of the big one?"

"That…that was Kagero," Hanzaki closed his eyes, his tone riddled with grief. "I…I asked her to go to Orochimaru with Arashi, I thought the sannin would help bring the Fuma clan back to its glory and…and he _did_ but this…this wasn't worth it!" Yugao pushed the man away from her with scorn visible on her face, before turning to walk towards Sakura's prone form.

The Otogakure's leader right hand went to cover his face. "I still don't know how I am worthy of leading the survivors…I started this! If only I hadn't sent them to Orochimaru then…then this wouldn't have happened!"

"Wait," Jiraiya muttered. "Arashi? Isn't that your Otokage?"

"No," Hanzaki shook his head. "Orochimaru was our Kage…he sent Arashi in his stead."

"I see," Jiraiya grimly looked to Sai, whom Yugao had begun to treat for his own wounds.

"Let's hope nothing else happens." The Toad sage whispered that looking towards the Iwagakure shinobi, who were now finishing giving the last touches to the stone bridge. It wasn't as sturdy as the one before, but it would hold to let the refugee on the other side through.

"How did they know where to attack us though?" Jiraiya remarked after a few seconds of silence. "They didn't look _that_ intelligent."

"They sense chakra movement," Hanzaki murmured. "Like Guren's crystals can be used to sense vibrations of electronics…"

"You knew all this," Jiraiya hissed. "Why didn't you tell us? We could have protected you better!"

"Because…because how could I?" Hanzaki's voice was wary as he finally confessed. "Those things…that knowledge…it could be used to recapture our land and if Konoha knew…"

"So you thought it would be best to sacrifice a few of your refugees to the risk rather than just tell us?" Jiraiya spat out in cold anger. "You know what, Hanzaki? You're right on one thing: you truly aren't fit to rule your men."

With those words said, Jiraiya moved away from the Oto shinobi. Still, one thing puzzled the toad sage: he didn't recall using any chakra-intensive technique so…how did they find them?

Karin Uzumaki smiled to herself. Orochimaru-sama's plan had been perfect. He truly was the most wonderful tactician to be born! This was…this was perfect! The mindless beasts did nothing to her, because she could flawlessly hide her chakra from their senses, and the leaders of the 'hive' obeyed her, because they bowed to Orochimaru-sama's will!

By concentrating, she could send small burst of chakra through the areas she sensed with her sensor ability…and with that, she guided the mindless monsters against the refugee column of traitors who refused to serve Orochimaru-sama!

When they had been close to escape, she had sent Kagero.

She hadn't felt Naruto's chakra anywhere —only a strange form of chakra that didn't belong— and yet then…it had happened suddenly on the bridge, and Naruto's chakra had appeared like some sort of flare. She had watched with her mind's eye the boy exhale a gust of wind to swipe away the flammable gas of Kagero near his teammates —only to end in the explosion when the fire encountered his air chakra.

Kagero had taken an interest in Naruto's chakra —her mind was more and more like that of an insect rather than that of a human by now— and she hadn't even needed coaxing her in order to bring her back.

Now she was there, standing at the entrance to the 'hive' deeply rooted within the rocky coast of Otogakure with the sea. Her eyes strained for a moment as she caught the buzzing and the swarm's arrival, before watching with a small smile as Naruto's frame came into view. Well…he looked like Naruto, but his body was badly charred.

He had taken most of the damage intended for his teammates…_always_ the noble hero. Still, this was nothing _she_ couldn't heal. With Kagero around, the mindless beasts just walked around lost like stupid _cows_, not even caring about what happened around them. She watched as Kagero's delicate hands —the first two she had were human still, but the others all resembled the scythe-like appendages the 'Heaven' side beasts had— gently lowered Naruto on the main chamber's rocky surface in a bed of seaweed.

Karin battled internally between watching and intervening then. These reactions were…they were _strange_. They didn't make sense since Kagero was supposed to just act on her orders or Orochimaru's…and she hadn't told the monster to drop Naruto on a seaweed bed. There was some sort of…of _mothering_ nature to those actions that Karin couldn't place.

It didn't make sense.

Kagero had never met Naruto before. Kagero had never even gone to Konoha before. There was nothing in the Fuma clan that had anything to do with the Uzumaki clan. That mothering nature _wasn't_ showed even when _she_ gave orders: most of the time, Kagero just clicked and hissed in annoyance at her or at the mindless brutes without pause.

Karin hesitated for an instant, before deciding to intervene just when Kagero's hands had begun to ruffle the boy's hair —that too made no sense. _Why_ was the insect petting him?

"Kagero! Leave now!" she barked at the giant creature with impunity. The thing had never defied her before, and so it was a shocked Karin who found herself dropping the ground to avoid an overhead swipe of the beast's scythes as a snarling and furious hissing noise came close to her face

"_Mine_." Kagero's voice was something similar to pure unbridled fury as she spoke. "_Mine."_

Karin swallowed nervously. "All right, but…Kagero-chan…you want him healed, right?"

"_Mine."_

"Yes, yes…but you want him _healed_, no?"

Kagero looked at her for a moment, before looking back at Naruto. Finally, she nodded. _"Heal."_

Karin sighed in relief. She moved closer to Naruto's prone form, and then moved her arm closer to his mouth, widening it enough to let her arm in before forcing him to close the teeth around her flesh.

The moment blood spilled, she closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. It was always such a pleasurable rush feeling herself bitten…it reminded her of her time in _slavery_. Of the good times people beat her up, used her up, and then bit her wherever they wanted because, back then…she was just a _thing_, and things are _used_, not loved.

Then Orochimaru-sama had come and had saved her from the brigands that had burned her village and kept her as a plaything…she had become Orochimaru-sama's toy then, but at least…well, at least she got _clothes_ out of the deal.

Pain was pleasure after all. It was the only reason she hadn't gone mad: people who made her suffer loved her, and people who tried to keep her happy and loved usually died anyway —killed by other people. Life was misery and pain, and the sooner one found pleasure in it…the better

So she moaned as her blood began to work on Naruto's body, closing the wounds and healing the boy's scars.

Soon, his breathing grew tranquil as he began to sleep peacefully, and as Karin stood up to leave…Kagero had already left.

She frowned. She had thought _Naruto_ had been the problem. She supposed that maybe Kagero had simply fell in some sort of insect-like desire to breed with a male but…she had left as if 'Naruto' didn't matter to her at all anymore.

That was strange.

It actually made her curious.

Maybe…once Naruto woke up, she could _experiment_.

A small smile settled on Karin's face as she began to think. Would the instruments she had here be enough? She knew she had some scalpels and some forceps, but then again she would need some drugs to test his reactions and a few more objects to do blood tests and get thorough results...

She couldn't exclude having to wound or burn him again, just to recreate the effects of what had happened.

She was sure Naruto would _love_ it.

_Pain was pleasure_, after all.

Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado sat on the council's chairs, the one between them empty, if not for the Hokage's hat placed firmly atop of it.

They both were grimly watching the Jounin in front of them, past their desk, and the looks they had…not even Gai felt boisterous…and Kakashi was on time.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi served Konohagakure no Sato for decades," Koharu began firmly. "Since he became Hokage, no-one contested his decisions for they were made with hindsight and careful planning."

"It is thus with a heavy heart," Homura continued, "That we make public the last will of the Sandaime as per his indications, will that was updated just after the Chuunin exams that took place in Konoha just last month."

Koharu coughed as she grabbed the closed letter, opening it up and then beginning to read it.

"If you are reading this," the old woman talked hesitantly. "Then I have died before publicly naming a successor. Thus far, many things have come to my attention, many that as Hokage, I cannot reveal to those who do not share my title. I ask for this will to be made public, for it to be told around the village at the same time as the Jounin are informed, for my successor is someone I am sure will bring many to rebel against my decision. It is a selfish decision. It is a selfish idea. I have no illusions you will understand, or you will accept it, but I have made a choice which the Daimyo of the Land of Fire shares." Koharu's voice suddenly died in her throat.

"The first choice for succession is Danzo Shimura," she spoke firmly. "In the event of his death, the second Choice for succession…" her voice died once more, as she firmly gripped the paper in her hands. "Is…Is…"

She dropped the paper and stood, before leaving in a hurry.

Homura picked the paper up, and slowly paled. Then, with an air of finality that could have shaken the dead, he whispered.

"_Orochimaru_."

The Jounin all stood up screaming at the 'forgery' or at the 'spy in the village' but Homura slammed both hands on the desk and yelled. "_**SILENCE! ARE YOU SHINOBI OR YAKUZA!?**_"

The voices died down, as Homura slowly kept on reading.

"This…this is for the Jounin alone and no-one else." His eyes shone as he kept on talking to the assembled men. "Danzo Shimura is the only one I can envision _planning_ against Orochimaru's actions. In the event of his death…then Konohagakure is _doomed_. Thus, I plead of you to think of my words not as a harsh criticism…but as a truth: if you cannot defeat your enemy, then ally with him. It will give you time. Moreover, if he comes to take the place that was mine, eventually, if shown loyalty, he will commit a mistake small enough to chance killing him with treachery." Homura's voice was but a whisper as it continued.

"In the event of failure…a suicide mission must reach…Ama no Hoko," there were whispers around the room. "And there…it must activate the tower with _Saezuri_." The councilor _trembled_ as he sat down heavily on the chair. He slowly removed his glasses from his face, before putting his fingers to the sides of his nose and pressing down hard as he kept his eyes closed.

He felt a headache coming already.

And he could do nothing to stop this from happening.

"Can't we just activate Ama no Hoko, whatever it is?" a Jounin asked. "Why must we give the title of Hokage to…to a traitor of the leaf!?"

"Because Ama no Hoko was activated once before, from what history tells us," Kakashi spoke then firmly. "It is a well-kept secret, but did you know that the land of Wind used to have flourishing vegetation around it?" the silver-haired Jounin closed his only eye, putting away his copy of _Icha-Icha Fleshy Fun Tactics!_

"Ama no Hoko…absorbs Yang energy from the spot it is pointed at and redirects it to its surroundings. The Land of Wind _became_ a desert when it activated in the _Old War_, in the times before the Samurai and Chakra…half of the sand in the land of wind is made of the dust of the _bones of those who died_ when the tower hit."

A heavy silence descended in the room then, as nobody dared to speak.

Kurenai Yuhi broke it, with a question filled with dread.

"And where does the Sandaime want the tower pointed?"

Homura grimaced.

"Wherever Orochimaru and his army are…even if in the heart of Konoha itself."

The silence this time lasted only two seconds…afterwards, the Jounin's roars and screams actually echoed through the entire Hokage tower, as they kept on rambling about how impossible it was and how the will _had_ to be a _forgery_. The opposite couldn't be true, because if it was, then what the Sandaime meant was that no-one was able to defeat his student, not even the other Sannin themselves.

That thought…

That thought was what fueled their _fears_.

And it was to that climate of fear that Tsunade Senju unknowingly stumbled upon, as he entered Konohagakure after years of being away.

She huffed and puffed her bountiful chest outwards. "Shizune! Let's go get sensei!"

"Y-Yes Tsunade-shishou!" Shizune stammered, as she shyly looked around the village she had so dearly missed. She just hoped, as she walked the familiar roads, that something would come to keep her shishou in the village.

Anything, really…

She was just so _tired_ of going around.

**Author's notes**

**I didn't kill Naruto.**

**I didn't kill Sakura.**

**I gave **_**emotions**_** to Sai.**

**I'm **_**horrible**_**.**

**And I dropped hints the size of a **_**moon**_** this entire chapter.**

**Shade out.**


	39. The Dusk Begins

Introverted

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Hinata's eyes opened to a bleak greyish morning. The sun hid behind the clouds, and the atmosphere of the village was tense. She could no longer wash herself alone, but as a female branch member helped her, her gaze settled wistfully on the outside garden. Even though she had truly been scared of training with her father, now her complete lack of training made her…sad.

Her sensei had come by a few times, trying to gently talk to her and ask how she was doing. She was sincerely doing fine, but Yuhi-sensei didn't believe her. Then again, she was no longer Sensei to her: she wasn't a kunoichi anymore. Her legs didn't work. They did not obey her. They refused and…

Food tasted bland, the sky was pitiful. The air was stale and the smell of old and dust was everywhere around her. She didn't feel _alive_ anymore. Her breathing was slow and controlled, but that was because her tears had already dried even on the inside.

Ko-san had been her caretaker for so long, and now once more the branch family member carried her with his strong arms to the gardens, where she would spend an awkward day doing nothing more than sipping tea and watching the leaves fall. They always fell, and winter was coming. Naruto-kun's birthday had already passed by…and her mood dropped once more thinking about the demon that inhabited the blond boy's skin.

It was in such a situation that she saw Neji walk by, his forehead protector tightly tied to his forehead. She…she just felt apathy in his regards. It wasn't his fault: they had targeted her team because of the old diatribe between Branch house and Main house, but Neji would never have killed her. Humiliated her? Probably, but that was nothing new.

He didn't make a snide remark at her as he walked by. Either he hadn't seen her —impossible— or he simply was ignoring her. It actually made her spirit rise a bit, Neji-Nii no longer insulting her was an improvement on her past life… but she would go without in a heartbeat, if only she could move her legs again.

Her pale eyes settled once more on his back as he left the grounds. He hadn't come to train then —which was better, since she wasn't going to move from her position even if he did decide to train there. She didn't want to have Ko move her again, and frankly…she rather preferred to sit and watch the tree branches move.

"Onee-sama?" a tiny voice called her, making her head turn gently to the side where Hanabi stood half surprised and half shocked. "They said you couldn't walk anymore." Her voice was merely a whisper.

Hinata nodded slowly. "Yes, I asked Ko-san to move me here." She returned to watching the sky. "He's preparing me tea."

"O-Onee-sama," Hanabi hesitated. Hinata just smiled gently. Hanabi had never hesitated —so different from her, she strived under the stress of father's exercises. Hinata simply couldn't. His eyes and his frosty tone scared her too much. "Do you need something?" the girl walked closer then, and something in that moment…in the way Hanabi seemed genuinely concerned for her, for her pitiful existence now, _something_ in that moment _snapped_.

Hanabi had _loathed_ her with all her heart when she could walk.

Hanabi had brought her on the ground coughing blood too many times to count, calling her weakling, unfit for the clan, not worthy of being her sister and many more words that had torn apart her heart time and time again…and always she had smiled. Always she had kept quiet and cried herself to sleep and now…now she decided to act the little sister!?

_**NOW WHEN SHE HAD LOST HER LEGS**_!?

There was just a simple answer to that, really…it was the only that made _sense_.

Naruto-kun was dead. A demon had replaced him. Hanabi-chan would never act like that.

Hanabi-chan was dead. A demon had replaced her.

Neji-nii would never ignore her when he could spat in her direction.

He was dead. A demon had replaced him.

Her father never acted gently.

He was dead —a demon had replaced him.

Demons had the same chakra as living beings. How could she differentiate a demon from a non-demon? There really was no other explanation on why people acted strangely with her now! She was the dirty rag of the Hyuga clan after all, the Heiress who was unfit to rule! There was no reason to be kind now, not to her! No, no, no! There had to be something _**WRONG**_!

She smiled to the demon that wore Hanabi-chan's skin and shook her head gently. She was trapped and surrounded by demons…if she began to make a fuss, they'd know and kill her too. Maybe they wanted her for some reason? Maybe…maybe they wanted to use her for some sort of ritual. Didn't demons do that?

Maybe…maybe they wanted to have her…have her give birth to demon children? Was that why her father talked of arranging a suitable marriage for her?

No…it couldn't be.

Tears began to fall down her cheeks as the demon wearing Hanabi's skin took a step back, her face clearly showing worry for her condition.

"Onee-sama?" the tiny voice of Hanabi came to her ears through Hanabi's mouth…and it was Hanabi's skin but beneath it…there had to be a demon. It was the only answer. She couldn't remain calm, not for long. Her sister's skin was the garment of such a foul demon —she could not tolerate it!

There had to be a demon beneath her flesh…

Hanabi misunderstood. She misunderstood and neared her older sister, her heart beating slightly as she believed she was simply watching her sister breaking down from her words. She was sorry she had done as her father asked, but father was father: what he said had to be. Now…Now her older sister was no longer going to train and would never walk again…and Hanabi's tightly controlled dam over her feelings had burst out after seeing her in such a state.

Therefore, Hanabi neared her and hugged her older sister.

She hugged her and cried, bawling over her sister's state and begging forgiveness for all the times she had treated her badly.

"I'm sorry Onee-sama, I'm sorry!" Hanabi cried as she held onto her older sister's kimono. "I'm sorry I…"

"What are you sorry about?" Hinata's voice changed suddenly, her eyes cold.

"O-Onee-sama?" she looked at her older sister with surprise and a slight shock. It was only the fact that indeed, Hanabi _had_ trained more than Hinata that made the difference between her dying and her surviving the moment. Because the moment she said Onee-sama, Hinata's right hand had come down with all the speed the elder Hyuga sister could muster against Hanabi's ribcage.

"You don't get to be sorry, demon!" Hinata _screamed_ as Hanabi barely managed to block her attack —she could feel her right arm burning from the chakra coils cut from the attack. If the attack had connected with her ribcage and her heart…she would have _died_. "Give me my sister back, fiend! Monster!" Hanabi jumped back, staring in fright at Hinata crawling on the ground towards her, her nails digging in on the parquet as she kept on screaming against her.

"_You're not my sister_! You're just a demon wearing her skin! You're not Hanabi-chan, but a filthy, lurid hell-spawned fiend! You killed my sister, and now you want to kill me!"

"W-What? No! Onee-sam—"

"_DON'T CALL ME THAT!_" Hinata screamed, as members of the branch family began to arrive with hurry after hearing the loud noises. "You're not my sister!" Hinata bawled over as she cried. "You killed her, demon."

"N-No," Hanabi shook her head, her eyes stingy and watery. "I…I didn't…Onee-sama, you're…"

"Kill me or get away from me," Hinata spat out darkly. "I can't stand seeing my sister's face on you, _demon_."

And for the first time in years, the Hyuga sister who left crying was not Hinata…but Hanabi. Hinata exhaled loudly as her arms trembled after the effort she had done. She could feel her breathing growing ragged, but…but she hated herself more than she hated the demons. If she had been stronger, they wouldn't have taken her sister, her father, her cousin, her Naruto-kun away…it was all her fault in the end.

But she would fight them tooth and nail…

And when the demons would come to eat her, then at least…at least she would die and go to the heaven where fighters went —the heaven where Naruto-kun surely was waiting for her to come.

As Hinata closed her eyes to the need for rest, another boy shrouded in darkness touched gently the bark of a tree.

Sasuke was not happy with the arrangements for learning how to live blind. He didn't know _why_ he had to leave behind the Uchiha compound, or why he was now apparently a live-in guest of the Inuzuka. What he knew was that the entire compound filled with noises worse than a full-out party every single time a shinobi or kunoichi of the clan came back from a mission.

Even when they were simply late, they celebrated _twice_: the moment they were supposed to arrive and the moment when they finally arrived. He steadied himself and took another step. He was doing well —at least he hoped so.

The trick was simple and unnerving at the same time. It was the same principle of walking on trees or surfaces: stick chakra to the ground and let it slowly pan out. Sure, you will not see again but…but the difference in chakra will tell you if you're about to step on solid rock, tree bark or well…dung.

Because yes, his training consisted on walking through a field disseminated with dog crap.

The fact the Inuzuka did that with their noses stuck to the ground actually made him a favourite, but then again there was no way he'd sniff the dirt…or take a facial of shit.

He actually smirked at the image of Hana taking one during the test —even though she claimed she had aced it on the first one of her tries.

He had no idea what Hana's appearance was to begin with, but he imagined her like a bulky brute with a club tied to her back and three ferocious wolves. Maybe he did imagine her with more scars than not and more feral qualities…but from Tsume Inuzuka he didn't expect a flower lily.

He had actually met Kiba's mother —she had asked her team for a D-rank in cleaning dog shit and putting it aside for something.

Well, now he knew what that _something_ was.

He took a slow steadying breath.

He could do this. The next step would be solid if he landed it a few centimetres forward. Just to be sure, he brought chakra to his sole and calmly —his forehead was sweating— began to settle the foot down.

The loud yapping of a dog distracted him, making him flinch and stumble. His foot ended up with a 'squish' sound and Sasuke…Sasuke's forehead sported a nervous tick mark.

"Where. Is. That. Dog." He snarled gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, slowly trying to clean his foot against the grass blades.

The only result was that he squished another shit.

And then one more…and again, and by the time he was at the fourth he just surrendered and walked ahead towards the exit of the 'training course' ignoring the repeated squish noises or the horrendous sensation between his toes.

He knew, thankfully, where the water pipe was —near the kennels.

The yapping grew more insistent as he neared the water valve, until in the end he heard the noise of running water. "Stop it!" a rough voice called to the yapping dog. There was silence a moment later, as whoever spoke sensed him. The dog began to cry and whine.

"Stupid dog," the man grumbled. "Well, boy? Failed the course? Ah…you're the Uchiha."

"Yes," Sasuke gritted out. "What's going on?"

"You can't see? Oh right, you can't," the man chuckled to himself. "Well, one of the bitches gave birth few months ago, but out of six puppies one's _an albino_. We can't have that: they're weaker than the others and can't use chakra properly."

"So?"

"So I'm _trying_ to drown him. I shouldn't have put it off for so long though, because he's got a nasty bite now."

Sasuke remained quiet. "Well, I'll probably wring his neck then."

"Wait," Sasuke blurted out. "Can I have him?"

"Uh? Listen brat, why do you care?"

Sasuke shrugged. "No reason."

"This isn't a charity, you know? The corpse is normally used as feed for the other dogs, and the bones are ground to dust to be used too…"

"I'll pay for him," Sasuke snapped.

"Oh well, it's a weight out of my shoulders." Sasuke swore he could _feel_ the smugness in the other shinobi's face. The moment the man left, the Uchiha heard the soft pit-patter of the yapping dog moving closer. It was then that something made his ears twitch.

Pit-Pat-Pit-Pit-Pat. That…that didn't sound right.

It was supposed to be a rhythm of right leg, left leg, right leg, left leg…it sounded as if…

His hands went down to the nose of the puppy, which actually licked the palm of his hand and nuzzled its furry face against it. Sasuke's other hand moved to look at the limbs…one, two…

Three.

The dog wasn't only an Albino. He was also a three-legged runt. Sasuke tensed slightly, but eased a moment later. A dog with only three legs was no different from an Uchiha without eyes. Both were incomplete, both were useless…and both were actually unworthy of living.

_Yet they lived all the same._

He exhaled and grabbed the dog gently by his midriff. "You know where the water valve is?"

"Woof!" the dog barked excitedly. "Woof!"

"I'll take that as a no," Sasuke sighed.

His free hand travelled towards the wall where the water valve was supposed to be, his fingers moved upon the steel tube, then to the pipe and the tap. He let the water flow as he slowly washed his sandals and feet. The moment he was done, he realized the dog had been whining since he had opened the valve.

So…the dog was afraid of water now.

Plain wonderful: a broken, damaged dog for a broken and damaged Uchiha.

His brother might actually die from _pity_, rather than be killed by him.

_Wonderful_.

Itachi Uchiha was watching with uncaring and cold eyes the arrival of Tobi through the slip in time and space. Around him, the tall buildings of Amegakure gave a bleak and grey-tinted atmosphere to the perpetual raining city. He spoke firmly the moment 'Uchiha Madara' stepped through, his voice betraying genuine annoyance.

"Orochimaru stole my weakling brother's eyes: how can I achieve the perfect Mangekyo without them?"

He wasn't really annoyed…he was angry. He was angry the Hokage had failed in protecting his brother, angry Orochimaru had succeeded but most of all he was angry his brother hadn't become powerful enough to stand on his own. He was acting rashly, and he knew it…but at the same time, it was time to call in the credit he had earned.

Tobi blinked from the only slit available in his mask, before deadpanning. "And that is my problem _how_, exactly?"

"Because _it is_."

Tobi blinked again. "You will go alone if I don't intervene, Itachi?"

"Indeed," the Konoha Missing-nin nodded once, firmly. "There is—"

Tobi stepped forward and brought both hands on Itachi's shoulders. "I understand."

The Kamui activated the next instant, and Itachi disappeared from sight.

Tobi sighed as he looked around. He didn't really _want_ to do it. He could leave Itachi inside the pocket dimension of his eye to die of hunger and thirst, but if he did that then there was no guarantee the boy would not spite on him by smashing his own eyes. He'd have to go to Orochimaru's location now. He _hated_ doing that. He wasn't supposed to reveal his 'big-shotness' to the world.

He was supposed to be the imbecile Tobi.

Now…now there really wasn't a choice. He needed Itachi more than he needed Orochimaru.

And really, what had possessed the man to _steal_ the sharingan? It was all going to be for naught. Truly, the moment people carried _love_…they learned of _Hate_.

Soon all that would end. Soon…there would only be _peace_. He could not wait to leave this 'fake' world behind. A world without Rin…

A world without her, after all, was not a world that could truly _exist_.

Dark clouds loomed over the sky. The grass trembled beneath the harsh soaring winds. A dark hand lowered itself upon the charred earth, followed by another. Ten Tails swished on his back, and for the first second, he felt peace.

Then Evil washed over him.

_Misery_.

_Death._

_Greed._

_Revenge._

_Arrogance._

_Disgust._

_Ignorance._

_Violence._

_Malice._

He screamed to the sky.

The evil would not abide. The darkness would not recede. This tide of unblemished evil would not disperse. Thus…

Thus he struck, beneath the gaze of the watchful moon —so white…and so pure. He roared and tore through mountains and men, he screamed and the dead answered his call of revenge. He shrieked and purifying fire burst from the earth crust. He loathed and they died, he attacked and they fell…

Then his duty, the duty the moon and the Earth had demanded him…was stopped.

A man, with concentric purplish eyes and blond hair, stopped it…a man that stood with a monk staff and a plethora of weapons. Weapons of old…weapons that wounded him and harmed him... He fought them, he fought _him_…but in the end…he _lost_.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise as the boy woke up. His gaze fell to his surroundings, as his nose smelled the salty taste of seawater. His throat was parched, and as he coughed, he suddenly felt the watchful gaze of _something_ on him. He barely turned his gaze to the side that he recoiled, his back hitting the wall of the cave. There was a moment of silence as he stared.

The creature that looked back at him had dark eyes, and looked similar to the giant insect that had attacked them on the bridge, and yet completely different at the same time. His upper side was that of a normal and fragile looking male, while his lower one…yes, his lower one did look like a sort of giant maggot.

"I am Arashi," the boy spoke slowly. "Who are you?"

Naruto swallowed nervously. His right hand went to his face, trying to feel the charred skin but finding none. His left hand moved to his weapon pouch…which wasn't there.

"You have been disarmed," Arashi spoke quietly. "You need not fear me. I have not…" his face showed pain for a moment as he held his stomach tightly. "I am not an enemy," there was a moment of silence as Arashi's breathing grew laboured, before whatever pain he felt finally receded.

"I am a victim," he whispered. "And I…well, why are you here?"

Naruto licked his lips slightly, his eyes looking around. He was in a wide hall, surrounded by the monstrous hulks that however were lazily hanging around —every now and then, they made a step in one direction, before taking another in the opposite.

"I don't know where 'here' is to begin with," Naruto croaked out, warily searching for a weapon of sorts. He could try to break a chunk of stone with his bare hands…or maybe his head —the forehead protector was made of steel after all.

"We are in one of Orochimaru's bases," Arashi replied firmly, his maggot-inferior side slowly crawling backwards as the back pushed one of the mindless brutes out of the area. "I believe," he added as a sickening feeling now settled into Naruto's stomach. "That you are here as _food_." Arashi slowly walked forward now, pushing with his lower body the creatures out of the way. "The question is…are you mine, or Kagero's?"

"I'm not food," Naruto squeaked as he slowly stood. He didn't have a kunai, but as long as he had his chakra he could…

Arashi's maggot body erupted with thick silky strands and humanoid twisted pincer-like limbs as they slammed Naruto against the cavern's wall, making the boy wince and scream in pain.

The moment blood spilled…Arashi stopped.

He stopped and slowly inclined his head to the side, taking hesitant sniffs. That was when Naruto was dropped unceremoniously on the ground, only to land on a soft panel of sand that had appeared from the various sediments in the cave —as if attracted by his blood.

"Mine," Arashi whispered in a half-dreamy state, before shaking his head strongly. "No, what is…_Mine_." The voice hissed again. "That is mine." It snarled ferociously now. "Mine. Mine," it laughed. "It is mine!"

"Why are you not mine?" it whispered then. "We are…No, No," Arashi shook his head, taking steps backwards. "Stay out of my head!" the man screamed. "Out! _Out_!"

Naruto frowned, slowly standing up. He held his bleeding wound with his right hand, watching as the blood that seeped out from his tattered clothes stuck to the stand, which soon began to levitate near him.

"_STOP DOING THIS TO US!_" Arashi screeched, before his entire body went limp.

Naruto stilled in shock. Just _what_ was going on!?

"Naruto," Arashi spoke then firmly. "Naruto? Can you hear me?" the voice was…_distorted_. "I dare not take control of this body, lest I end up trapped inside," it spoke once more. "I am Mito, can you hear me?"

Naruto blinked. "Wait. You're _real_?!"

"No time," 'Mito' remarked. "I'm…oh, it's complicated. I'm travelling through the Nature chakra naturally acquired by these monsters to influence their behavioural patterns. There is quite the bit of Fuinjutsu involved with their seals, but it's all based on Uzumaki designs I can easily work on."

"This is creepy," Naruto whispered looking at the limp corpse of Arashi.

"I'm abusing Kurama's powers," Mito commented. "His corruptive chakra can easily overload these things but I'm wary of giving him too much leeway."

"So wait: you're telling me I can control them?"

"No," Mito snapped at him. "And you should try and escape _now_."

"How does that work anyway?" Naruto muttered as he slowly limped away. "And why am I still _bleeding_?"

"Why do you think blood is needed to summon creatures? It naturally connects the chakra to the Nature chakra of the world, which makes for an easier transition of summons from one side to the other," 'Mito' speaking was a bizarre and horrific accident…but the things she said…they simply didn't make much sense to Naruto to begin with.

"I think I understand it slightly: chakra makes you and blood connects you?"

"Actually…the correct way to put it would be that the extra bit of sealing on your seal was meant to alter some of your chakra to be 'digestible' by mine, so that I could theoretically impart on you the knowledge of how to work with the Kyuubi's chakra before disappearing. That is unfortunately no longer an option, as I was forced to rend the seal in order to permanently withhold both Shukaku and Kurama into a state of perpetual imprisonment."

"Can you please stop talking?" Naruto pleaded. "Your voice _hurts_."

Arashi blinked. "Sorry. You must be feeling an echo."

The buzzing grew stronger as Naruto increased his pace, Arashi in tow. The man-creature suddenly stopped after a few more meters, convulsing as it began to foam from its mouth.

"Losing…control."

Naruto's sides hurt. His legs hurt, his entire frame hurt…but he still _ran_. He ran past corridors and creatures that tried to behead him with their bone clubs. He dashed across empty rooms and finally —in the end— he heard the sound of waves infringing against a hard surface. He saw the light of the day emerge from the end of the stone hallway, and just as he was about to jump through…

Five senbon needles pierced through his back, suddenly tensing all of his muscles and making him fall with a dull thud on the ground, mere inches away from the outside.

"Naruto-kun!" a very familiar voice exclaimed then. "You're awake!"

"K-Karin?"

He could do nothing as he felt the female hands of the red haired girl turn him around. She sported a bright smile as her crimson eyes stared into his. "Naruto! How are you, my cousin?"

"Karin?" he croaked as he felt her hands roam over his tattered clothes. "What…why?"

"Orochimaru-sama told me," the girl giggled. "That he knew the Sandaime would send Jiraiya to look into Oto for the Sound-ninja supplies and experiments. That's why he had me free them! Also, did you know he knew you would be there too? Together with your team? Orochimaru-sama knows many things, Naruto-kun…you'd do best remember it!" she snuggled her face against his chest for a moment, before frowning and ripping apart his shirt as what remained of his Chuunin vest hung from his shoulders.

"That's better. Do you know that the heart twitches? It goes 'thump-thump' but sometimes it also goes 'ba-thump'."

"Why can't I move?"

"Senbon coated in paralyzing poison, I hit the nerves related to your main muscle clusters…but not the mouth," she smiled. "I need to hear you scream after all."

Naruto closed his eyes as he slowly felt a thrumming sensation on the back of his head. "What did you say?"

"I need to hear you scream," Karin nodded firmly. "And I have to test out why Kagero acted strangely with you. I already ruled out her heat period: she isn't laying eggs since her hybrid ovaries are reaching the gangrenous stage. Lucky her: she must be suffering a lot." It was the wistful tone of Karin's words that made Naruto's eyes widen.

"Was…was the Karin I met a lie?" Naruto choked out. "You can't have…become mad overnight," he murmured. "You can't."

Karin said nothing, but she did scoff before grabbing a sharp senbon needle. "Did you know, Naruto-kun? There are certain nerves which can be hit to bring forth pain and pleasure?" she smiled as she used her free hand to scratch his chin. "A tiny prickle, and like magic you start screaming your lungs out."

She slowly rolled on her back, dropping her red-haired head just below his chin as she comfortably brought her knees upwards to her chest before stretching on him. "You're really comfy," she smiled. "Your skin that is. So, you think I can start by flailing you alive, after we're done with the experiments?"

"No," Naruto croaked. "Please…my team…"

"They're fine," Karin huffed rolling her eyes. "They reached the land of Demons safely. Orochimaru-sama just wanted you to waste time."

"Why?"

"Because as long as Jiraiya was busy elsewhere —the only man who could battle on par with him— then he could freely act elsewhere."

Naruto swallowed nervously.

"Doing what?"

"Oh!" Karin clapped her hands together. "That's _easy_!" she spun around, straddling Naruto's waist and smiling coyly. "I nearly forgot!" her hands grabbed at the boy's shoulders. "Orochimaru-sama wants some Uzumaki samples from a healthy male! So we're going to have some pleasure you and I." She giggled, gently scratching his cheek. "Think of it as repopulating the clan…" and then her _other_ hand came down.

Naruto _screamed_ as the senbon coated in poison pierced through his neck, before letting his chakra flare and crack apart the ground beneath his body. Karin held on to him with a gleeful look filled with a mad glint, as her nails dug in deeply on the boy's shoulders.

"I'll be gentle Naruto," she sultrily moaned. "Really gentle…like they did with me, you know? I came to love it. You'll love it too!" And it was _then_ that she smiled and clenched her hands tightly against his shoulders. "Yes. I will make you _suffer_ and you will love it. Orochimaru-sama won't be here for…_months_…ahn…and then when he arrives…"

His muscles burned from the effort, but his entire frame just felt like lead. He couldn't survive this. He needed help. Any type of help would work.

She hadn't blocked his mouth, but without hand-signs the air technique was out of question. As she slowly rocked back and forth atop him, and as pain numbed his brain cells…

"Yes Naruto, _yes_…"

Naruto. Uzumaki.

His tongue twirled in his mouth as chakra began to condense. Pain forced him to close his eyes shut and he felt his body starting to betray him.

"Come on Naruto —say you love this. Pain is pleasure! _Say you love this_! Say you love me!"

The chakra began to spiral... he could make it work like a _Bijudama_. He had to remember that feeling. It had to be natural. It had to…

His throat engorged for a moment, and to Karin's widening eyes…he expelled a perfectly concentric sphere of chakra, that slammed into the girl's chest and tore _through_ her clothes —sending her to scream in a high pitch as she fell backwards on the ground, blood oozing down from her wounds.

Naruto took that moment to breathe in peace, before he heard the buzzing sound grow _closer_. He snapped his eyes shut and tensed his body, gritting his teeth furiously as he tried to inch further away.

When that failed, he had no other choice but to _push_ the senbons deeper into his skin. He convulsed from the effort, and then brought the momentum strongly against his back. His breathing stilled for a moment as he felt the senbon pierce completely through his skin and dig deeply into his flesh. When he breathed again…

He could crawl. Whatever was as the exit was better than staying there to be devoured or worse…_raped_ by a mad girl. There were tears in the corner of his eyes as he used his head to push himself forth. Was Karin like that since the beginning? Had he trusted her with his teammates only because of a surname? Was there really but a mask on her face when they had first met?

Worse still…Orochimaru knew this. He didn't know why the sensei of his mother had such a keen interest on destroying Konoha, or how he knew when things were going to happen as if he could read the future. What he did know was that he had to leave, even if it meant falling down the cliff and in the sea below.

He stopped to breathe as his head pushed him slightly over the edge of the exit. Waves crashed against the rocks down below, something that a shinobi with the knowledge to walk on walls could easily avoid, but that in his condition…he could not.

If only there was a way to…_wait_.

He closed his eyes and bit down on his tongue hard, as blood pooled on his mouth. The moment he spat it out, the sand naturally brought by the wind converged upon it, beginning to float nearby. He locked eyes with it.

_Grind._

The bloody sand began slowly to circle around the ground of the cave.

_Grind faster._

He gritted his teeth as he spat out more blood, pouring what chakra he could through his body. Even immobile as he was…this he could do.

He wasn't going to die there!

Slowly, the sand grew to the size of a small ball, and from there the growth became exponential. Naruto could feel the tiredness settle on him as his chakra and abused body began to give away, but he couldn't stop.

Not until he was free. Not until he was back with his teammates.

Slowly, he brought the sand to pass beneath his body. Gaara had managed to make a floating platform seem so easy, but in truth, it wasn't. Naruto concentrated, his thoughts dedicated only to imagining a pair of floating hands that gently lifted him from below. He began to sweat as the hands lifted him from the ground and slowly, taking a deep calming breath, he opened his eyes and began to move forward.

He began to ascend the rocky cliff, swaying to the right and the left as whenever his thoughts distracted him, the sand would crumble slightly. He gave a final mental push to the hands that were holding him, and the hands obeyed by launching him through the last meters towards the safety of the cliff's upper side.

He landed on the rocky ground and hissed in pain as he rolled downwards, away from the edge. He could feel the senbon still move inside of him.

He gagged from the effort, the vomit in his mouth tasting coppery from the blood. He retched to the side of his convulsing body, and it was then…

It was then that he gritted his teeth and used the sand to grind through his own skin, his flesh and muscles, to tear out the senbons.

He did not scream as he finally could clench his fists, tense his body and wait for the pain to subside through wracks of agony. He breathed slowly as his eyes settled on the dying sun. He quietly tried to stand, and the sand helped him up.

He watched as the hands of sand he had created slowly started to form forearms, and then elbows. The hands assumed a human figure as he began to limp away from the scene, the more chakra he gave it the more the figure became complete. By the time he was a few meters away…there was a woman instead of a pair of hands helping him walk.

It wasn't someone he knew, and the look she gave him…

It was sad.

She was grieving, wasn't she?

Why?

_Gaara._

He tensed. He closed his eyes. This was Gaara's _mother_…wasn't it?

The sand that protected the boy had been…of his mother. And…and he had stolen it from him when he had killed the boy. He was using a power that didn't belong to him, something that had been gifted by a mother to her son…out of _love_.

Had the boy known?

He didn't want to linger on thoughts —not until he was out of danger and safely away from there.

It was just as he stepped down from the narrow path to the cliff and towards the more plain-like ground that he heard a loud rumbling far away.

He went down limp on the ground, using the sand to move the ground atop him as a cover to hide.

The rumbling _continued growing stronger_. In the end, Naruto closed his eyes and hoped for it to move away from him. He had done enough for the day. He just wanted to rest, was it that difficult to understand?

Jiraiya's eyes moved around the makeshift camp as he stood in Sage mode, his senses increasing with Shima and Fukasaku's own. The two toads stood silent, their own bodies merged with his and tense in concentration. He felt a slight surge of chakra to the west of their position, which then later subsided. It could be Naruto, but it wasn't his chakra…not completely.

He ground his teeth as he nodded to himself: they'd investigate there.

He bit down on his thumb and slammed his hand down on the ground, letting the set of circular ink symbols come forth as he summoned a giant toad.

"Let's go! I felt something!" he yelled to the team under his command. Yugao was busy holding Sakura's still limp form between her arms, but Sai's face was stern as he flickered right next to him steadying himself on the toad's back.

"Jiraiya-sama," Yugao murmured. "Is it safe? Sakura needs a hospital."

"There's nothing they can do about it now," Jiraiya replied firmly. "That's more of a sealing matter, and I'm the seal expert. Just keep her warm and hope she wakes up and doesn't go berserk."

He then gave a small nudge to the toad, who croaked once before suddenly _jumping_ high above the clouds and forward. Renouncing the need to be subtle, the toad landed crashing against the ground repeatedly as it moved closer to where he had last sensed a surge of chakra. Jiraiya grimaced as he felt a multitude of corrupted Senjutsu chakra signatures belonging to Orochimaru's lab experiments.

The grimaced became a frown when the toad landed once more and croaked. Jiraiya jumped down fast, moving quickly towards a mound of dirt and sand that stood out like a sore thumb through the plains. The moment he kicked it away, he saw Naruto's body covered in a light sheen of sand.

"Brat!" Jiraiya's exclamation came just as the Sannin exhaled in relief. The kid was alive, if wounded. "Only with you," he shook his head as he grabbed the boy and lifted him up with his arms. "Only with you."

"Ji…raiya-sama?" Naruto croaked out, coughing sand and dirt mixed with blood as he cracked an eye encrusted with small crystals up. "Are you…am I…"

"Hush!" he shushed him. "Just sleep, you're safe now."

"Th…The…ba…"

"Doesn't matter," Jiraiya grimaced. A puff of smoke later revealed a Kage Bunshin who nodded and headed towards the base. "I'll send a Kage Bunshin. You just hang tight while we get you out of here."

"You have…frogs…on your shoulders…heh," Naruto made a single chuckle, before closing his eyes.

The Toad Sage sighed. The moment he dropped gently Naruto on the back of the toad, Sai quickly moved to hold Sakura from falling as Yugao took care of the first aid.

"He's…" Yugao bit her lips. "He's not that wounded but…"

"He'll have a chat with Inoichi," Jiraiya nodded grimly. "All POW do."

"How should we proceed now, Jiraiya-sama?"

"We go back to Konoha," the Toad Sage declared. "My Kage Bunshin will do the job and summon a frog to carry over anything important. Hanzaki's information will be put to good use and hopefully…" here the Sannin grimaced.

"Hopefully this will be the last occasion where I have to see Minato's son wounded like this."

"Understood, Jiraiya-sama," Yugao nodded firmly. She stilled for a second then.

"Minato…Namikaze?"

Jiraiya nodded without giving it much of a thought, as he patted the toad to start jumping once more ignoring all subtleties.

"The…Yondaime?"

The toad continued to travel as Jiraiya nodded again without thinking, his mind occupied with thoughts on sealing and what-not.

"Naruto is the son of the Yondaime?"

He nodded yet again.

"And the Sandaime said nothing?"

Another nod…it was _then_ that Jiraiya blinked and turned to raise an eyebrow at Yugao. "The brat didn't tell you?"

"He…he told no-one." Sai murmured then, blinking once as he held onto Sakura's prone form.

Jiraiya sighed and looked to the sky. "Me and my big mouth…" and then he exhaled and chuckled to himself.

Well, they were already in deep shit, and the boy needed some breather from the people of the village —that old Geezer would probably not wring his guts for having gone against an S-rank secret…and if the rumours spread then maybe, just maybe, the boy would have a better life in Konoha.

He gave a quick glance over to Sai, who was holding Sakura and looking at her seal…he was 'Pervert' wasn't he?

"Ehi, your name is Sai, right?"

The pale-skinned boy looked at him and nodded. "Yes, Jiraiya-sama?"

"Would you like it…" Jiraiya smiled. "To become my apprentice?"

In Konoha, around the same time, Tsunade Senju looked in disbelief at the councillors.

"No," she shook her head. "I'm not."

"Hiruzen's will was firm on this," Koharu remarked. "He asked for _Orochimaru_ as Hokage. Do you hate Konoha that much, Tsunade?" the old woman remarked. "With a traitor as Hokage, there would be revolts…and he wouldn't need more than a few days to simply overrun the village with his army and kill everyone who opposes him."

"Tsunade," Homura continued. "You have selfishly lived for yourself, using the wealth of the Senju clan to perpetrate a life of self-destruction that, had you been my student, I would have dissuaded you from. Hiruzen was too kind to do that, and he let you grief. You have grieved enough!" the old man slammed his fist on the table. "You will assume your role in Konoha as _Hokage_ and you will do so immediately! Do you not care for the many lives that will be lost? Do you not care for the children who will see their parents die fighting for their village? Do you truly not care for the civilians, for the innocents?"

Koharu sneered at Tsunade. "What do you think Orochimaru will do when he gains control of the hospital? Do you think he will not try and experiment on new-borns, like he did to recreate the cells of the first Hokage?"

Tsunade clenched her fists. Why couldn't they understand? Everything in Konoha reminded her of Dan, of Nawaki, and Orochimaru's words…

_There is darkness in Konoha…one so deeply Rooted that only the Hokage may see it. The will of fire is but a shroud, Tsunade. A fool's mirror, because it hides behind it the corpses of the victims._

She exhaled. She didn't want to do this.

She really didn't want to.

"I understand," she murmured.

"Good. You start tomorrow. We will have the Senju compound brought back to its former splendour." Homura nodded. "And…Tsunade? I am glad you saw reason."

Tsunade snorted as she left.

Didn't they know? Orochimaru had _told her_ they would choose her as next Hokage. By accepting…

She was playing Orochimaru's hands.

Then again, knowing her luck with playing…if she followed Orochimaru she was prone to making him fail whatever it was that the man had planned.

And if she didn't…

Then she'd just meet Dan and Nawaki earlier.

**Author's notes**

**Chakra is soul-consciousness of individual. Seen with Minato in seal and Kushina in seal (gave chakra, and acquired knowledge) and seals of Orochimaru can seamlessly 'alter' structural cells to rebirth him (Anko's seal) and acquire Senjutsu chakra (reason for being created)**

**Chakra can be 'Gifted' as actually seen with Gaara's mother 'Gifting' sand protection to him. **

**Thanks to that (Canon) knowledge, we conclude that if Senjutsu Chakra has consciousness, it can 'travel' to another form.**

**Mindless bodies= no resistance, but difficult to interact with.**

**This was the logic behind Mito-Possession of Arashi for the moment.**

**I just dropped another hint.**

**Yugao's hobby is moon watching.**

**The moon is the Juubi's body.**

**Yugao is a pervert for watching Demon's bodies.**


	40. The Dawn Ends

Introverted

Chapter Forty

The soft, rhythmic sound of a heart monitor gently drifted Naruto out of his sleep. He breathed in a slow gust of air, before exhaling and feeling the pain his entire body suffered from. He had never felt such a sharp agony before.

Every single fibre of his muscles ached and screamed in utter ache, as if someone had taken care of making him suffer. He could see an Iv drip attached to his arm, dripping slowly a crystal and liquid substance.

His eyes focused on his surroundings then. The fabric of the bed sheet was mildly uncomfortable, and the smell of antiseptic could only belong to a hospital. With a defeated groan, he tried to twitch his right hand. Carefully, as to not abuse his muscles or feel more pain, he moved the hand towards the metal rail that prevented him from falling.

It was then that he saw the straps tying him down to the bed. His eyes moved past them, to the bed nearby. His gaze landed on soft pink curls, and that was enough to make his heart at ease. He moved to the other side, but found the bed empty. Sai wasn't wounded then…that was good.

He closed his eyes again in defeat. He was too weak to move and frankly, he was in a hospital and his teammate was right there next to him. There was nothing but sleeping and healing in such a place. Slowly, he fell back in the realm of the sleeping.

A soft noise of steps woke him up again, this time his thoughts were slightly less fuzzy than before. He saw a dark haired kunoichi with a long-sleeved jacket walk in, holding on to a medical chart and humming a little tune.

She was wearing the Konoha forehead protector.

Therefore, he was back in the village.

"And when the little piglet went to the market—" she stopped humming all of a sudden, her eyes moving quickly over to the monitors to his side and then to his half-opened eyes. "Oh! You're awake! That's good!"

Naruto exhaled slowly. "Team?"

"Tea?" she blinked back. "I'm sorry, but you can't have liquids in you yet, Tsunade-sama has been pretty clear about that…"

"Team," he croaked out in pain, "My…Team."

"They are fine Uzumaki-san," the woman replied. "Haruno-san is still asleep near you. She woke up earlier but went back to sleep soon. Satou-san will probably come by during the normal visiting hours and beyond," she lowered her face near him to whisper with a light giggle. "He thinks we can't see him stay way past the time of visits in the room." She winked at him before standing back up straight.

"How…long?"

The kunoichi nodded, before looking at the medical chart once more. "You've been out of it for about a week. Now you should just rest, all right?"

Naruto groaned and subtly nodded. "What's…the damage?"

"A bit of everything," the kunoichi replied calmly. "Mostly, it was the chakra exhaustion and the wounds you had on your body. They'll scar on your back but…" her voice trailed off, "It's going to be all right."

"Sakura?"

"Ah…" the woman kept a smile on her face. "She's fine. Jiraiya-sama took care of her. I cannot say more but she _is_ going to be well soon enough."

There was the hint of a smile on the woman's face. "Between you and me," she said then teasingly. "She all but _demanded_ to be moved here. We had to comply when we found out she refused to cooperate with us otherwise."

The beeping of the monitor kept on going slowly, before Naruto's silence became heavy. The Kunoichi seemed to fidget for a moment, as he stared at her deeply lost in thought. Everything he had done, everything he had suffered…it was coming to him now, painfully.

"Thank you," he finally whispered. "Can you undo the straps now?"

The medic-kunoichi nodded and deftly unbounded him, before turning and leaving, closing the door behind her.

Naruto sighed and slowly stood up to sit at the edge of the bed, letting the metal guard rails fall down to the sides. He hissed in pain as he felt his muscle tense when he touched the cold hospital floor. He didn't have slippers —and the hospital floor apparently loved reminding him of that with its freezing temperature.

He carefully slipped into the bathroom, his eyes locking with his reflection in the mirror. His cerulean eyes were a bit of a shade darker, as his entire appearance just screamed 'rugged and scraggly'. His hair had grown back blond —two weeks without dyeing it were apparently more than enough— and now stood to his shoulders, with half of it black. He looked like a bumblebee.

The hospital's soap smelled of disinfectant and nothing more, and as he opened the plastic foil, he swore he could smell Sai's own scent on it. Was the boy actually stealing his own soap from the hospital to begin with? He washed his hands, and then, calmly…he walked in the shower and washed himself.

He removed the bandages. He tore the stitches out of his body. He gritted his teeth as the blood began to flow down the drain together with the dirt he had on him —it didn't matter if he looked clean, he knew he wasn't. He began to ì scrub his hair, his skin, his flesh. He had to be clean. He couldn't stand those eyes.

Why was the woman sad? He couldn't stand sad.

No. He couldn't.

He sat down in the corner of the shower, his head down, his arms clasped around his legs as pain from the open wounds, and the burning sensation of soap on his blood kept him awake. He was a murderer. He had killed Gaara to save his team but…but Gaara had a mother who loved him so much that she protected him even beyond death. Whom did _he_ have?

Nothing but a sickening burden.

And the woman…the woman protected _him_ because she _believed he was Gaara_. He was stealing the love of a mother for himself.

He was being selfish, egoist…and he couldn't help but _cry_ with the water that dropped from the showerhead.

What could he tell the woman? What could he say to make her less sad?

_I'm sorry I ate your son_?

I'm sorry I ripped you apart from him?

_I'm sorry I killed him, brutally_?

I'm sorry?

_I'm sorry_…I'm sorry never worked for _him_.

_Demons don't get to be sorry_.

Sakura woke up to the smell of soap and blood. She knew she was still in the hospital, since Sai had just graciously told her everything when _she_ had woken up. She had insisted on recovering in the same room as Naruto after that, because she hoped to see with her eyes was Naruto _awake_ and Sai exchanging perverted words with him.

When she did let her eyelids move aside, to let her gaze wander the room…she heard the sound of the shower going and the lack of Naruto in the room. She sighed in relief.

When the sound of the water running went on for more than five minutes, relief left the place to nervousness. Shinobi did not enjoy wasting water. Sure, Konohagakure had to thank the Nidaime Hokage for its nigh-perpetual water supplies, which coupled with the first Hokage's forest made it difficult to find and capable of surviving a long term siege.

A set of random thoughts popped up in Sakura's head then.

The number of shinobi suicides post-mission increased tenfold in case the shinobi ended up as a POW before rescue.

And the favourite place for suicidal shinobi was…

The _bathroom_.

Sakura jumped out of the bed with a speed that her body refused to handle properly, sending her sprawling on the ground as her muscles locked down and refused to move.

She gritted her teeth and snarled, before simply twisting her shoulders and pushing her palms against the cold floor. She exhaled as her entire body slammed against the door of the bathroom, opening it, as it hadn't been locked. She barely managed to stand that what she saw made her heart plummet to her stomach. There was blood _everywhere_ in the shower, and Naruto's form was naked in a corner, cradling himself and bleeding from the open wounds.

"Naruto!" she ended up running —or better yet falling— in the shower, her body colliding against his as her arms tightly encircled him. The water fell down her hair and her body, sticking the hospital gown to her form. She didn't care about that —a long way from when she could barely stand going somewhere without being _proper_— nor did she care it was a naked Naruto she was hugging, rather than a naked Sasuke —he wasn't even in her thoughts that much now.

"Shh, shh," she whispered letting her right hand behind his head, to gently cradle him along with her. Naruto had always been _stronger_ than she had; he had always been the ace of the team. There was no doubting it, no going against it: he could survive nearly everywhere, he could fight and he could kill better than her or Sai but…but this, seeing this…seeing _Naruto_ in such a state…

It just broke her heart. "What happened?" she whispered, "Uh? Want to talk about it?" she moved her hand to stop the flow of water, letting the scathing liquid stop falling over her head. The vapours in the room were thick, but slowly dispersing, as she had left the door open.

"We should get dry, eh?" she tried then. "You're going to get sick…and so am I," she nudged him gently with her forehead, but nothing happened.

"Come on, Naruto," her right eyebrow twitched. "_Come on_."

Slowly, he looked up from his 'entrenched' position. His eyes were wide as saucers. "S-Sakura? What are you doing…"

"It's not my fault you tried to drown yourself in the shower," she barked back at him angrily. "What were you thinking, huh!? No, I don't want to know!" she suddenly said, bringing her right hand up to cusp his cheek. "It's got to be something _stupid_ anyway. Like how getting captured was your fault or something like that." She shook her head. "I was knocked out far longer than you, Sai told me you jumped like an idiot to save us," she began to tremble. "You're just a _Baka_, aren't you?"

"Sakura?" he hesitated, especially when he saw tears starting to fall down his teammate's face, dribbling down her chin and then falling on the shower's ground.

"Y-You don't get care about yourself," she continued. "You…You stupid, dim-witted, sacrificial excuse of a shinobi…" she didn't really _mean_ those words, as her trembling and her tears simply kept on increasing with every word she said. "Sai was so scared and…and I was furious when he told me and…" she babbled, shaking her head. "And _I can't lose you too_." She choked on her words after that, sobbing.

Naruto's arms encircled Sakura's frame, this time it was his turn to console her apparently. "Sakura," he croaked out, "I…I'm not going anywhere."

She sniffled. "Jiraiya-sama wants you as an apprentice…I can't keep you here with that…"

"I won't go."

"There will be missions to do, we can't always be together on those…"

"Then I won't take them."

Sakura exhaled slowly, a small smile now displayed on her lips. "Baka." She pressed her forehead against his then. "Naruto? You promise you'll never leave me?"

Naruto tightened his hold on her body, before whispering back. "I promise," his lips were now inches away from her own, "And I never go back on my promises…it's my Nindo…"

"Ah…"

Her lips moved closer as she closed her eyes, the feeling of the wet fabric of the hospital gown forgotten as she just felt the need to…to _kiss_ him…

Then a voice interrupted them.

"Kinky," the simple smug tone belonged to none other than Sai, who was watching the scene and actually using a brush to paint it, "Don't move. Harem Lord, stay still like that…I'll entitle this," he said with a calm and cool voice, "The First Love-Love Kiss of Kinky and Harem Lord."

Naruto chuckled nervously, as Sakura huffed and looked back at Sai with a mild glare. "Sai!"

"Kinky, I can see your flat-board," Sai deadpanned. "It is a horror that I will never forget," Sakura suddenly turned crimson as she realized the wet fabric was sticking all over her body. "And Harem Lord? Don't point your kunai at me."

"Ku…Kunai?" Naruto's gaze widened, before he looked down to his 'kunai'. "AH!" he stuttered and fell on his back, before ending up with a yelp and covering it up. "Pervert!"

"Yes," Sai nodded. "Well," he turned to leave the bathroom. "At least we know you aren't Dickless anymore," and with that he strolled out. "Don't take long; then again…Harem Lord is probably going to be _fast_ anyway."

Five seconds later and a steaming red Sakura left the bathroom, soon followed by a nervously chuckling Naruto who just kept on shaking his head while muttering 'Pervert' in a sort of condescending tone. The girl grabbed a change of hospital clothes from the drawer and returned into the bathroom to change, before stepping out dried and clean.

"So Sai, what's going on?" Naruto asked, sitting back on the edge of his bed and letting his legs dangle from it. Sakura did the same on her own bed, and Sai grabbed the chair to sit in the middle between them.

"Super Pervert took me on an apprenticeship," he said quietly. "I will be following him on some long-term missions outside of Konoha soon."

"Ah, Sai," Sakura hesitated, her right hand up as if to touch Sai's face. The boy just looked at her with a small smile.

"It's all right, Kinky. I'm not leaving forever. Only for a few months at most at a time…and I have to train with him privately to learn his Fuinjutsu skills."

"Still," Naruto made an awry face, followed by a grimace. "We're supposed to be…"

"We still are a team," Sai nodded. "Even if you try to get my ass and Kinky tries to rape you daily," a nervous tick-mark appeared on Sakura's face. "We are a team…and…you're my friends. That's why…I must do this: I have to become stronger."

An uncomfortable silence descended in the room for a few more minutes, before Naruto broke it off with a knowing gaze. "Ehi, what if we ditch the hospital and go eat somewhere else?" he smiled then, "like at Hebi?"

Sakura's eyes widened. "Naruto! You're going to open your wounds again!"

"Come on Sakura-chan!" he whined back, "For me?" he fluttered his eyelids and grinned at the kunoichi, who stammered and looked back with a perplexed gaze at her teammate.

"Naruto," she softly whispered with a smile. "You _baka_," and then she began to giggle.

Naruto soon laughed next, and Sai —not understanding what the subtle meanings were going on around him, simply _smiled_.

Neji Hyuga walked calmly out of the compound, his belongings on his back. He had a small apartment, and there was no need to remain in a place that held so many bitter memories for him. He walked and ignored the looks of surprise some of his fellow clansmen gave him, or the looks of perplexity coming from the random Konoha citizen.

For the first time, a Hyuga had chosen the _third_ option.

The Cursed Seal and the Byakugan, those _defined_ a Branch Member. Always second, always unworthy of the Main Branch. Those who followed the shinobi path of the Branch became Anbu, they fought in secret and they died with their names hidden.

To be free of a cage, another had to come to life. If one was of the Main Branch, then leaving Konoha or its outskirts was unadvised. Enemy shinobi could steal the Byakugan after all, the Hyuga kidnapped and used to make more.

But there was a third option.

Without Byakugan…

Without that eye which defined a Hyuga as such, without the sight, the techniques, the knowledge of what being Hyuga was…

One could open the cage by sacrificing his eyes and his beak.

And Neji Hyuga, once prideful star of the Branch Family…

Had chosen so out of his own free will.

_For he was free._

His eyes were mismatched. One was blue, and the other was green. The things he saw were no longer in details, as the eyes he had were normal, not the powerful all-seeing Byakugan. It was as if a thin film of dirt had settled over the colours, the air, the persons…as if everything was more opaque, less shining, less…defined and concrete.

He would get used to this however.

His team disbanded: Lee had not woken up from the coma and Tenten was dead…his sensei had awkwardly shaken his head and declared he was unworthy of any fire of youths until he repented for what had happened with Lee. Now, now, he was setting in and calmly placing his stuff in the drawer of his one-room apartment.

He was no better than an orphan —one who was without a clan and had to survive on what the village sent him.

Nevertheless, he would start working as an assistant to the medics in the Hospital. He would learn from them. He would train himself in healing techniques…and he would become a medic-nin.

He would become just like the Legendary Tsunade.

Because Tenten couldn't…

Therefore, in her stead, he had shamelessly stolen her dream.

_But he was free_…

And he would use his freedom to help. He clenched his hands and then carefully opened the package his uncle had given him as he had left the compound.

It was a simple scroll, something he could have gotten from the library of Konoha with no trouble whatsoever.

_Refined Chakra Techniques for beginners._

He carefully caressed the back of the scroll, before slowly opening it.

"_I am sorry, Neji, that it has come to this."_

He closed his eyes and breathed, before opening them again to the parchment in front of him.

What was there, below his uncle's apology…was not a book on Chakra Techniques.

It was the secret to the Caged Bird Seal.

It was the way to remove it.

His uncle…

He had given him the key to free the other caged birds…

And Neji couldn't help but bitterly laugh as tears fell from the eyes that weren't his…really…

"What a sick joke," he laughed. "Really…"

He shook his head and then, firmly, he began to read. He would memorize it, and then he would burn it. There was no need for anyone else to find such a powerful tool in his room. His uncle had gone against the elders to give this to him, he had entrusted this to him and…because of that, there really was nothing else that remained as proof that his uncle had sacrificed his father.

His father had _chosen_ to sacrifice himself for his brother.

He had acted freely.

He, Neji Hyuga…no, just 'Neji'…he would do the same.

For all of the clan, he would gladly sacrifice himself.

Aburame Shino was calmly taking tea, when his sipping abruptly ended by the arrival of Hibachi who huffed and sat down next to him. "You know, I think they're plotting something against us." The Aburame raised an eyebrow behind his sunglasses at his teammate, but said nothing. "They're giving us a replacement for Hinata."

Shino said nothing.

Hibachi huffed. "It's that Inuzuka," he added. "You know the one with the dog."

Shino nodded.

"And he's a boisterous idiot, always going around barking and what-not! But I'll show him who the leader of this team is, yes I shall!"

Shino remained quiet. He really didn't want to have to tell the truth to Hibachi about who was the team leader in the team. After all, it was obvious and logical that only an Aburame could be the Team Leader. Shino said nothing of the sort also because Hibachi had a weak self-esteem. If he told the boy the truth, he would probably commit seppuku.

Of course, those were Shino's thoughts.

"Still better than getting Ami," the boy shuddered. "I was glad she was dead for one, always yelling around…"

Shino remained quiet again. "You know the good thing about you, Shino? You listen! It's a good trait for an underling!"

He refrained from having his Kikkaichu deliver flesh eating variants to the boy's flesh. He _would not_ go to jail for the murder of a fellow shinobi…no matter how alluring the prospect was.

"Although maybe you should ditch the bugs," Hibachi added. "They don't give off the right vibe you see?"

"Hibachi-san," Shino said then, turning his piercing sunglasses-stare at him. "_Silence_."

The fact his Kikkaichu rose as if he was a peacock to buzz behind his back just gave him more of a leeway in intimidation matters. Hibachi paled, then swallowed nervously, and finally nodded and looked away sulking.

"Creepy."

Shino sighed.

He really did need better friends.

Shikamaru Nara was tired. He was always tired but this particular day…was the most tiresome of them all. It had started out great though: he had slept until midday and then had eaten without his mother glaring or nagging at him. Then, quite simply, everything had gone to hell when Asuma-sensei had decided that he could use with some individual extra training with his father.

Now there he was, trying to stop leaves' shadows from falling down as he avoided shurikens that were actually made of real steel —and not the cheap dull iron imitation used to 'scare' the Genin that Jounin sometimes used.

And he was already bleeding.

His mother was going to kill his father when he got back home —there was no doubt about it— and yet Shikaku soldiered on with trying his best to wound him. Shikamaru had never known his father for being fast…but then again, he knew very little about his father to begin with.

"That laid-back attitude is going to get you killed," Shikaku said gruffly, his gaze fixed on him from whatever spot he had chosen to hide in. "Fight like you mean it!"

"It's too bothersome…" Shikamaru exhaled. "Come on dad…stop this…mom's going to be mad…"

"Shikamaru," his father's voice was stern now. "Better to kill you myself then let an enemy do so out of Konoha."

A kunai streaked down near his chin, leaving behind a gash not very different from the one his father himself had. Another soon followed, which Shikamaru barely dodged. That one aimed for his _head_.

"Pops?" he was starting to get scared now.

"Listen Shika…this is for your own good." Around him, the trees grew quiet and the animals silent. "The world is not a happy place. What waits you…what awaits your teammates…I cannot let you go out without that knowledge."

"Pops?"

Shikamaru was sweating. "If I have to let you go out of Konoha without this important piece of information, then it is best I take your life now, rather than let someone else do it."

"What is it then?" Shikamaru asked carefully.

In that moment, Shikamaru saw a bare flicker of leaves, which a kunai then followed a mere inch away from his face. The Nara heir paled as his father held the tip of the metal weapon close to his eye. "You are not immortal, Shikamaru. _You can die_. _The enemy can wound you._ You can lose the life of a teammate, but you can also lose your own life in the process...you lost Ino…do you wish to lose Chouji too?"

Shikamaru tensed and sweated for a moment, before shaking his head slowly as his father removed the kunai from his face. "No."

"Then show me your spirit, Shikamaru…show me you have what it takes to mould the world…and not to be moulded by it!"

In a dark and damp structure, a few miles beneath the surface of the Earth, Sasori of the Red Sand dispassionately watched as his puppets took care of the corpses of a few unlucky civilians who stumbled upon him. Of course, he could have easily hid his presence from them, but then again he did need a few more puppets to add to his collection —and they should have known better than to simply walk around without a shinobi escort.

The discarded bodies lost their bones, their flesh and muscles divided neatly together with their nerves. What he could not use, he burned and destroyed with a puppet spewing fire.

His dead eyes noticed the shadows lurking in the back and he ignored them. The shadows slowly took on form, and he still ignored them.

"Is everything proceeding well?" Zetsu asked him.

"Yes," Sasori drawled out. "Everything is on schedule."

"Very well," Zetsu nodded. "At least someone respects the schedule…"

"I am a puppeteer," he answered back to the disappearing plant. "I work like clockwork."

He twitched a chakra string, slowly letting it send microscopically precise pulses to the arms and legs of an eight-legged arachnid puppet with eight arms. The puppet resembled a sort of spider, with a humanoid body. Its jaws clacked together as it began to expel a thin strand of chakra turned to web. The eight arms quickly grabbed a humanoid puppet already completed and enclosed it into a cocoon, doing the work nimbly and efficiently.

The spider then moved to a nearby door, which it opened with its rear legs to enter. The cocoon dropped into a well-lit room, where torches crackled and the air was warm. The spider closed the door behind him as he returned to his duties…leaving the cocoon together with the others…

The many others, that filled out the natural cave beneath an Oasis of the land of Wind.

Thousands of cocoons stood there, hanging from chakra webbings as if a spider had been birthing them…but there was no flesh inside. No, there was but wood and chakra, poison and metal…but the living beings, the humans that belonged to the caravans kidnapped…

They were alive as the webbing _ripped their souls_ out from their bodies, to plunge them into those of uncaring puppets.

An army that feared no enemy —that had no desire for water or food— and would not betray the orders of its masters…an army of perfect puppets, that needed no puppeteer. And the tools to do so, the Fuinjutsu, the technique, the skills…to do so…to do everything like that…

Orochimaru had procured.

Pain had brought.

And he...

He would be the _**Artificer of a New ERA**_!

In the floating Land of the Sky, hovering above the clouds far up, Orochimaru watched with a dispassionate and bored look the few victims the Zero-Tails needed to feed and sustain everything. Even without 'tails' of power, even without any type of secret skill or power it could bestow _on_ a Jinchuuriki —it _devoured_ _the_ Jinchuuriki, to say the least of the last 'experiment' he had tried with it— the beast's natural utility was endless.

It didn't sense evil…no, it sensed _Pain_. It understood it, it absorbed it, it made it…more. The beast locked its mask-like face with five long strands of red hair towards him, and inclined its head to the side.

"Not today," Orochimaru replied, shaking his head. "Soon, but not today."

The beast slowly nodded, and returned to devour the pain of a scared Sound-nin that had 'valiantly sacrificed himself for the greater cause'. Orochimaru snorted. Idealists were stupid.

To work in the shinobi world, the heart has to die. To live in the shinobi world, the soul has to die. To prosper in the shinobi world…whom you are, what you do, what you feel, everything that makes you 'someone'…it has to die and remain deeply buried into a remote corner of your mind, never to see the light again.

_The time draws near…_

The beast whispered, looking for a crack in his armour.

"There are none, stop prodding," Orochimaru hissed. "Your duty calls, _Reibi_."

The Zero-Tails nodded then, before extending its frame and releasing hands of pure white that struck around the walls of its prison. Deftly those hands pulled at secret panels that lit up, and soon the tower began to move and work better…ruins were repaired, buildings began to work again, what a war had damaged the Reibi brought back within mere minutes…

Then, of course, it stopped.

_Bring…more…_

"Fine," Orochimaru curtly nodded as he left. Outside the hallway, he gestured to Hebi to follow him. The girl had her hair dyed purple, with streaks of dark Prussian blue. Her eyes had a light hazel colour —benefit of dyed lenses. "Now, as I was saying my little Hebi," the snake spoke calmly. "You must understand the key concepts of 'pain', 'endurance' and 'mind-shattering'."

Hebi just nodded numbly as she followed her sensei.

"Pain can be physical," Orochimaru remarked casually, "Or it can be mental…or, even better, it can be _spiritual_. Let me tell you that losing a piece of your soul is not something anyone should aspire to feel on their body."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama," Hebi droned out.

"Good," he nodded. "Now, have you any questions, Anko?"

"No, Orochimaru-sama."

"Very well," Orochimaru nodded. "You learn quickly enough. A shinobi must always be able to differentiate between various personas. There is a time where acting like a lunatic can earn you more than acting like an intelligent shinobi, and times where humour can work better in distracting your foes than cunningness. To do the unexpected is to win," the snake sannin stopped and grabbed Hebi's throat too fast for the girl to see or block.

"Action and reaction dictate the ways the world goes," he slammed her against the metallic wall nearby, "To kill a seedling you need but a little amount of frost. To kill a tree, you need a hurricane…to remove the rot and the filth that is deeply rooted into this world…one needs more than just a light breeze." Hebi's legs began to kick spasmodically, as her breathing grew ragged and coarse.

Orochimaru's long tongue slowly began to trickle saliva on the girl's face, the snake sannin's face morphed into one of sadistic pleasure. "To keep your calm," he spat out after his tongue returned in his mouth, "Even in front of the unexpected," he slammed the girl on the ground and proceeded to walk again, "Is what makes a true shinobi skilled and strong enough to survive."

"Y-Yes, Orochimaru-sama," she shuddered as she stood, shaking slightly from the pain in her body…but mostly because of the fright from having the sage _lick_ her...was he going to eat her? Or what if he wanted…something _worse_?

"What is your name, Hebi?" Orochimaru asked then gently putting up _that_ face she feared more than the others he usually had —because if answered wrongly, then there would be pain to answer to with _that face on_.

"I'm M-Mitarashi Anko?"

A slap landed on her cheek with strength, sending her to fly in mid-air before she landed with a sickening crunch against the wall nearby. Her right arm was twisted and broken, the impact was not supposed to do that.

"I weakened your bone structure when I grabbed your neck," Orochimaru smiled. "Your arms, your legs…they will shatter easily for a few precious minutes…now, answer me girl! _**WHAT. IS. YOUR. NAME**_!"

"Hebi!"

A sickening crack, her voice wracked in pain as she screamed.

"Name!"

"I don't know!" Another limb, another broken bone…why was he torturing her like that? She had done everything he had wanted her to! She had been the perfect student! He had said so the day before…he had done it, he had hit the targets with her kunai all the times…she…

"I don't know," she sobbed. "Whatever you wish for me to be, Orochimaru-sama…please…don't hurt me anymore…please…"

And then she felt woozy as her surroundings shifted and she found herself still following behind Orochimaru. "That was not difficult," Orochimaru nodded to her. "See? You can do it if you apply yourself."

"I…I…" Hebi coughed, tears streaking down her chins. "I…"

"You are not 'Hebi' or 'Mitarashi Anko' Orochimaru said calmly. "You are what I decide for you to be. If tomorrow I will call you a whore, you will become one. If the next day I'll be in need of a Kunoichi, you'll become one. You are nothing and no-one. You hold no name of your own," he snarled as he slowly moved closer, his right hand holding her cheek. "Understood, Anko-chan?"

And Hebi nodded numbly as Orochimaru just smiled gently. "Very well," the snake sage said, "For today, you can be my apprentice. Let us go then, Anko-chan."

"H-Hai sensei," she croaked out.

She…she could do this. She just had to remain sane.

Yes, she could do this…

She was the number one kunoichi Anko Mitarashi after all! Nothing was impossible for her!

The real Anko Mitarashi looked with a bored look at the council. They went on ranting about how she had to be a proper example of guidance and be under the personal instruction of Kakashi in Anbu…joy, they trusted her now with Anbu work! Her loyalty never sent her further than interrogations, and even then, she never went further than doing them with someone else.

There always had to be someone watching her. The Sandaime had made it clear, and it had stuck. She could not teach Genin teams —why, she would never understand. Her apprentice for a month had defeated the top favourite, and she had earned quite a win with the betting pool that day.

Of course, nobody could bet on the Jinchuuriki, but she did bet on whom the boy would kill and she won quite a bit! It was only a pity that the Rock Lee guy survived, but she couldn't expect Kami to provide her with too much luck: she was already too sexy to be legal to begin with!

She was so sexy the reason people averted their eyes when she walked on the streets was because the women were jealous and the boys embarrassed. She was so sexy people tried to catch her attention in every way possible —from trying to assassinate her to drunkenly trying to slap her ass in bars and pubs.

She smiled brightly at the council asses, watching them leave her alone with the one-eyed pervert who was always late and the new Hokage with humongous breasts.

"So, Mitarashi Anko," Tsunade began slowly. "You trained under my old teammate, Orochimaru?"

"That son of a bitch in heat?" Anko smiled widely as she said that. She was always so _happy_ when they spoke of her ex-sensei, of the man she had trusted so much that she had even been willing to betray Konoha for him...and he…and he had told her _no_.

He had called her weak. He had left her behind. She had pleaded and asked why, and he had just answered that she was too weak for him. She hadn't returned to Konoha because she was loyal to the village.

She had returned because no-one else wanted her in the world.

"Yes, I suppose that is a title for him," Tsunade nodded calmly. "I would like to know however…Do you truly wish to be saddled with the Sharingan?"

Anko just scoffed and then smiled. "Of course! Loss of vision means nothing when I can be a sexy and undefeatable kunoichi!"

"Yes, about that…" Tsunade shook her head. "You will be going to the following psychological visits with Inoichi, and you are obliged to dress properly when in his office. He does not want a repeat of last time."

"You mean the time his wife found me naked taking off his pants?" Anko smiled sweetly.

"I didn't know that, but the answer still remains…_no improper clothing_."

"But that's a crime against my breasts!" Anko whined, grabbing both of her 'milk jugs' and pressing them firmly. "They aren't even sagging! Look at their firmness! I mean! You can't tell me to hide my babies!"

Kakashi was slowly losing blood from his nose, as he closed the book he was reading.

_Icha-Icha Milkshake Pandemonium!_

"I can and I will," Tsunade replied. "Since I am the Godaime Hokage…this is something _I can do._"

"Only if Kakashi stops reading porn!" Anko said pointing her finger towards the silver haired Jounin.

Tsunade scoffed. "Deal," she turned to Kakashi. "While Anko Mitarashi is having her psychic evaluations, you are not to read porn."

"The hours?" Kakashi replied.

"One hour a day for a few weeks," Tsunade replied completely ignoring Anko's frantically waiving of hands and screams of 'it's unfair!'

"I'll use that as my nap hour then," the silver-haired Jounin shrugged and went to look out of the window.

"Uhm…" his only eye turned into an eye-smile. "I'll be going then, unless you still need me Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade shook her head. "You may go, both of you," and as the two flickers of leaves left her in an empty office, she slowly let her hand creep to where the secret sake reserve was…

She needed a drink.

It was going to be a long and hard journey ahead of her but…

To see Dan and Nawaki once more…

She would travel to hell itself and back, while making deals with the devil himself...

Because she was tired of living a life alone, devoid of the people she loved...except Jiraiya, but he didn't count because he was not only a pervert, but also because…

Well, she had been responsible for the death of his wife after all.

To that day…

She would never forget the look of hurt he had given her.

That, that was the day the Jiraiya she knew of died, and because of that…

She would never dare to try to love him.

He didn't deserve a wreck like her…he never did.

**Author's notes**

**Jiraiya's past is a bit different from canon (I actually simply added a brief clarification to 'something' that happens in the anime which has Jiraiya as protagonist. Genre-savvy already can half-suspect)**

**This is the last chapter before Shippuuden and time skip. **

**How many years will our protagonist go through? Canon three, less than three, more than three?**

**We will see…**

**But remember…**

**The Moon is Watching You! (and canon says Jinchuuriki act on full moons, sort of like werewolves)**

**(And ignoring the resolution between Orochimaru and Itachi+Obito is part of the ploy of the Author to send the readers to mad-hell)**


	41. The Darkness Rooted in the Leaves

Introverted

Chapter Forty-One

The Godaime Hokage was a blonde, busty and honey-amber eyed woman who was supposed to be in her fifties or beyond and instead did not look a day past twenty. The fact she wanted to separate her from Naruto for a few training exercises —to test the waters of their psychological health— already made her an evil hag in Sakura's mind. It wasn't the fact that she'd miss Naruto so much to 'break down'. No, she could survive that. She was more worried about _Naruto's_ reaction...which was lacking.

"Sakura," Tsunade's eyes then firmly settled on her, making her wince and stand to attention. "I know you have been just recently discharged, and I know this may not seem the most apt moment to speak but…you are a Kunoichi of Konoha, so I expect you to remember the shinobi code!"

Sakura swallowed and nodded grimly. Shinobi were tools of the village that killed their hearts when the need arose. "Good," the Godaime nodded visibly satisfied. "There is a bit of a personal news I have to give you next, Sakura…do you wish for Naruto to remain in the room?" this time, the voice was soft. She didn't like it one bit.

Her eyes moved to where Naruto was standing perplexed, before a grim visage settled on his face. She didn't know what the problem was. What was it?

"I…I suppose he can stay," Sakura whispered. "It's nothing horrible, right?" she tried to say with a small smile.

"Haruno Kizashi and Haruno Mebuki have been found, two days ago, by a patrolling shinobi group in a ditch on the road midway towards Otafuku Gai," Tsunade's voice was firm as she spoke. "Their corpses were in an advanced state of decomposition, but we managed to easily identify them by their clothes and the fact they were missing by more than a month…" the Godaime grimaced. "Brigands probably got to them when they left Konoha."

Sakura's breath hitched in her throat. She felt the air grow heavy, the world start to spin…why was the world shifting? Was she falling? No, she wasn't—

Naruto grabbed her and held her steadily, like an anchor of rock in a tumultuous sea. She couldn't hold her tears for that. She just couldn't. She grabbed viciously onto Naruto, her arms encircling him as she vented off her tears and her screams of pain into his chest, her hands clenching tightly against the fabric of his clothes as she cried repeatedly her tears.

She screamed the injustice through incoherent repetitions of the word 'no' and shaking of her head. She cried until the tears that fell from her cheeks turned her eyes swollen and red. She didn't know when Naruto had taken her out of the Godaime's office, or when he had started carrying her…she just knew that she found herself tightly held by him in his apartment, with him sitting on the sofa and holding her gently, but firmly all the same.

She closed her eyes to his gentle touch over her locks of pink hair, to his caresses over her cheeks. She closed her eyes and cried herself to sleep over his soothing whispers, as he tried and failed to calm her down. She simply…she simply closed her eyes, and she slept.

Her eyes opened to a warm fluffy white blanket covering her, as the smell of food reached her nostrils. She felt her stomach tighten —she wasn't hungry and she felt horrible. Her parents were dead.

Her mom was dead.

Her father was dead.

They were both dead. Their corpses were rotting —probably in the obituary of Konoha's hospital...did she really have to go there alone? She couldn't. They couldn't ask her to go there now, could they? But there was the funeral to be done and…and she had to, because she was the only one still alive of her family and if she didn't then…then maybe they'd come back as ghosts to haunt her or worse…

Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt when she realized she couldn't hear Naruto's footsteps around the house. Had he left her there? She hesitantly removed the covers from her face, to blink at her surroundings. She was in Naruto's _bedroom_. The boy was nowhere she could see, but then again the door wasn't open…she bit her lips and slowly turned her gaze to the bed desk, from where the smell of food came.

Her favourite dumplings stood there in a row, with a cup of hot tea and a hastily scribbled note on. She rubbed her eyes slightly, slowly getting up to sit on the side of Naruto's bed. The note was brief and to the point.

_I went to get Sensei. She'll know what to do. I'm coming back soon. Don't worry._

_Naruto._

She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, before looking at the food with disdain. She wasn't hungry and a few of those dumplings seemed to have been…handmade?

Her eyes widened in realization as she stood and carefully walked out of the room, to look at the state the kitchen was in.

Naruto hadn't wanted to leave her alone…so much that he had actually made the dumplings by hand, with what he had around.

"Baka," Sakura murmured to herself, a small crying note underneath her words. "He's a Baka."

She clenched her fists and shook her head. "Stupid…My stupid teammate."

Sakura couldn't just wait there doing nothing, or she would truly go mad…which was why, by the time Naruto came back with Sensei in tow, Sakura had already cleaned the kitchen. She had a light dusting of flour on her nose, which she hadn't noticed —otherwise Naruto was sure she'd have removed it— and she was holding the platter with the dumplings he had made.

"Sensei," Sakura murmured, looking at Yugao's stern face that slowly melted away into genuine worry. The pink haired girl dropped the plate on the table's now clean surface, before she was hugged gently by the woman who she had —in a fit of _justifiable_ jealousy— called a cradle robber.

"Sakura," she whispered. "I'm sorry," Yugao murmured. "I'm so sorry…are you fine? Do you need a hand with the funeral?"

"I…Ah, I don't know…" Sakura's shoulders began to tremble. "What do I do in this situation? I don't know…they don't teach you that at school…do I have to go and see their bodies?"

"No, you don't have to unless you really need to," Yugao murmured, her right hand firmly grabbing the girl's shoulder. "How about you stay here for the time being? She's not a trouble for you Naruto, right?"

"No trouble at all, sensei," Naruto whispered back, his face sporting a brief and small smile. "I'll take care of her."

"Nice line, Harem Lord," a crisp and clear voice sounded from the door, as Sai slowly entered the room. "My condolences," he said then to Sakura with a small bow. "I heard."

Naruto frowned. "From who?"

"Master Jiraiya was told by the Godaime Hokage a few minutes ago. He sent me here." Sai shrugged.

"Thanks, Sai," Sakura whispered, her arms slowly coming to embrace herself with her gaze downcast. Yugao-sensei nodded to Naruto, and then left from the window.

"I brought food," Sai remarked. "I have seen it is the only thing Naruto thinks of when someone is wounded," he added then calmly. He opened a scroll and placed it on the kitchen counter, before letting it release a cloud of smoke and warm vapours coming from the food.

"Ramen," he added then. "For everyone."

Naruto sweat-dropped, "Are you trying to console Sakura or me, Sai?"

"Cherry," Sai remarked. "And she's generally happy when _you_ are happy," he brought up both eyebrows. "You didn't realize that?"

Sakura stammered and blushed, averting her gaze from both of her _stupid_ teammates.

"Ah…" Naruto chuckled nervously. "Well…let's sit down and eat then?"

As they ate, Naruto wondered out aloud. "Neh, Sai? Did Jiraiya-sama tell you when you're going to leave next?"

Sai nodded. "Tomorrow morning."

Sakura spluttered and Naruto nearly choked on his ramen bowl. He grimaced. "So you really brought the ramen for me, didn't you?"

"I suspected you would be sad," Sai replied. "Don't be," he added then with a shrug. "I'll be back."

"Is that a promise?" Naruto asked, his right hand holding tightly on the chopsticks used.

Sai looked back at the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi with an awkward glance. "I'll try my best."

"What if your best isn't enough?" Sakura whispered softly.

"Then I'll just have to do more," Sai shrugged. "What about you, Dickless?"

Naruto exhaled, and then shook his head. "Tsunade-sama has found me a private instructor…I am to report tomorrow morning on training ground twenty-nine."

"That's the one with the Nidaime's waterfall," Sai commented. "Cherry?"

"Tomorrow morning…Training ground forty-four," Sakura swallowed. "Yugao-sensei said to be there."

Naruto did not comment on that, simply taking another gulp of noodles. "Will you go?"

"Of course I will," Sakura scoffed, albeit it came out more like a mixture between a grimace and a frown. "At least…It'll help me distract myself."

Naruto waited expectantly for Sai's quip. He _knew_ Sai would be saying something like 'Why, Dickless doesn't satisfy you enough' or something similar…he just knew it. Yet Sai remained quiet. He remained quiet all throughout the time he spent with them, just until he was about to leave —the sun was setting after all.

"Naruto?" Sai said quietly, and because of that, Naruto tensed. He had used his name. Rather than calling him Dickless or Harem Lord…that meant it had to be something important. "I need to talk to you," Sakura was reading a book in the kitchen, her mind lost in the series of _The Hiss Collection. _"Outside."

Naruto nodded, half-closing the door behind him as he stepped on the balcony. "Sai?"

Sai exhaled slowly as he took out a scroll from his jacket. "This…is for you."

The next moment, Sai disappeared in a flicker of leaves. Naruto frowned and slowly moved his hand to unclasp the scroll. Inside there was a simple technique and a scribbled note in ink.

_The Summoning Technique requires the following hand-signs: Boar-Dog-Bird-Monkey-Ram._

_Not having a contract will guide you to the realm of summons you share an affinity with…in case of great harm, use this technique to escape._

Naruto remained perplexed: was this everything Sai had meant to give him? Why make it such a secret then? Why not just hand it over and be done with it…why deliver it?

It was as he closed the scroll again, that a small slip of paper fell from it on the ground. The Jinchuuriki bowed down to grab it, and then slowly brought it up to read.

His eyes widened.

His skin paled.

His breathing grew ragged.

Calmly, he clenched the hand that held the bit of paper and ate it, without leaving behind a trace as he swallowed it down. He turned to look inside, to where Sakura was cradling a blanket while reading one of the most renowned Horror collections the Elemental countries had ever created —one about a psychopathic red haired who used chains to skin and flail alive girls— and he slowly entered his apartment once more.

He closed the door behind him, and gently sat next to Sakura, whose head then instinctively dropped against his shoulder as she kept on reading.

"Is it any good?"

"Shh," she whispered. "It's better than a movie…"

"_You can't have my N-chan! He's mine! MINE!" flesh stripped and blood pooled as beneath the full moon the mad woman laughed a bittersweet melody of madness. Her crazy crimson eyes looked wide and in delight as the young S-chan cried, while the psychopathic pulled out her pink locks…_

"_And now you are going to di—urgh!"_

"_True Love conquers all fears!" the stalwart hero arrived from the window, having dug deeply his blessed golden sword into the back of the monstrous woman who had turned horrendous because of unrequited love. "Be gone, foul demon! Be gone!"_

"_My hero!" S-chan cried in joy. _

"_It is I! N-kun!"_

"_And his trustworthy assistant, K-sama!" a snake hissed standing on his shoulder._

Naruto blinked. "Do you know the author?"

"Yoru no kage," Sakura murmured back as she closed the book. "He's second spot on the Elemental Countries writers' list…that old pervert is the first," she scoffed. "I don't know why though…"

"Yeah," Naruto chuckled briefly. "There are a lot of perverts around, aren't there?"

She hummed her understanding, before dropping her arms limp over her body, snuggling her head closer to the crook of Naruto's shoulder. "Can I stay here tonight?"

"Of course, Sakura," he replied. "You don't need to take anything from your house?"

She smiled sadly and shook her head. "Aoba-sensei used to say to always keep something of everything on your person," she tapped one of the Chuunin vest's pockets on her. "I've got my change of clothes right here."

"Sealed?"

Sakura nodded. "A scroll per chuunin, to do as they please —but if they rip it, then they have to buy another one."

"Uh," Naruto blinked. "I have to pass by the supply office then."

"Yeah," Sakura snorted. "Good luck getting one before the end of the week..."

"You were supposed to be in the hospital," Naruto frowned. "How did you get one?"

"I made doe eyes to the nurse," she smiled slightly. "Said I needed one or I just knew I would relapse and burn down half the hospital."

A sweat-drop appeared on Naruto's forehead. "And they believed that?"

"No," she sighed. "But Yugao-sensei did provide me one of hers."

Naruto chuckled. Sakura smiled. "Neh, Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Can't we stay like this…forever?" the kunoichi spoke softly, as she crossed her arms over her chest and gently turned to look with her emerald eyes at his face.

"S-Sakura?"

"First we lost Ino…" Sakura whispered, "Then Aoba-sensei…the Sandaime is dead and…now my parents…can't…"

Naruto closed his eyes and hugged Sakura tightly. The girl's face morphed to surprise as both her eyes widened from such an action. The shock disappeared after a few seconds, replaced with a small content smile —just before she closed her eyes too, and hugged him back with a heartfelt sigh of relief.

They remained like that for a few precious moments, before Naruto separated. "I…I have to go somewhere tonight," he murmured. "I'll be back before long," he grabbed her shoulders firmly, and then…

Sakura's eyes widened as she felt him _kiss her_ on the forehead. "You have a pretty forehead, Sakura-chan," he winked at her. "See you later."

Sakura stuttered, stammered, blushed, looked around wildly and tried to get _words_ in her throat, but failed _spectacularly_ to do so. When she regained a minimum of self-control, Naruto was already gone.

She exhaled and trembled slightly. Her face was crimson and vapour was coming out of her ears. Her hands went up to her burning cheeks as she looked around frantically. "No, no, calm down," she giggled to herself. "It's nothing," she giggled again. "Now, now, calm down…what do you do? What do we do? What do I do?" she scampered to her feet. "I need a shower. Yes, I need a shower!"

She jumped in the bathroom as if her life depended on it, all the way blushing and giggling madly.

Naruto's eyes instead focused on the tombstone of the Sandaime.

It was one among many, and yet it had a bit more of 'breathing' space before the other tombstones. There was only his name, his titles and the year of his birth and death. He clenched his fists in front of the tomb and then, firmly, his gaze went to the hospital of Konoha.

"If it's true, old man…" he croaked out. "If it's the truth…" he exhaled. "_I will show Konoha no mercy_."

"_The basic of infiltrating is to appear 'not suspicious', not to be invisible to the enemy." Danzo spoke crisply. "You know this already, don't you Naruto?"_

"_Mingle with the crowd," Naruto muttered. "Change appearance to suit what is supposed to be there."_

He jumped up against the wall, clasping his hands to the surface and then crawling upwards. He did not use chakra, but kept to the shadows as he prowled his way up with a kunai as a climbing tool. He ground his teeth firmly as his eyes narrowed on his destination: a ledger that gave into a patient's room. Not just any patient's room, but the level with the Intensive Care shinobi —the ones who would _not_ wake up when he entered.

He looked through the window, holding on to the edge and then pulling himself up to 'hug' the window's frame. The room had a patient inside, and the door on the other side stood close. Firmly, he grabbed the point of his Yoroi Tanto and let wind chakra condense on the tip. Carefully, Naruto cut the wooden panel in the middle of the window neatly —the boy's hand caught the lower side and gently propped it against the wall.

He crouched down on the other side, keeping a kunai in hand —he was in friendly territory but…but he was not going to hesitate on this, _not on this_.

He opened silently the drawer of the room, taking a patient's gown and putting it on. The hospitals had seals interwoven with the walls —to know if a patient was outside…but also to know if a foreign shinobi was inside beyond the visiting hours. In the Intensive Care Unit of course people didn't expect their patients to leave…so he had an opening. He pressed his ear against the door, and stopped breathing to hear if someone was on the other side. When nothing was forthcoming, he pushed slightly the door open.

He slipped out of the crack, before jumping on the surface of the ceiling and remaining attached to it.

"_People look forward, behind, to the sides…up and down come later…when that comes do not stop. To be stealthy does not mean to remain immobile…it means to not fear moving in silence!"_

He crawled his way keeping out of the neon lights —if he casted off a shadow, it wouldn't do. His careful prowling brought him to the stairs. He knew there was at least a Chuunin rank watching the first floor. The nurses patrolled at regular intervals, and with the time, the patients had already eaten…

Naruto exhaled firmly, as he locked his gaze with the ground floor —he could jump down and run across the lift's cage, and if timed it correctly…

He saw the head of the guard on the ground floor.

It was good enough.

He began to run downwards, letting the momentum and the terminal velocity increase his speed.

"_Even the slightest hit on the head can give a concussion, Naruto…and someone knocked out will not wake up easily afterwards."_

His eyes shone coldly as his right fist slammed with all the strength he could muster against the guard's side of the face.

The Chuunin's body twisted from the impact, but Naruto's other hand grabbed the flying body by the ankle and slammed it on the ground together with him.

Naruto hissed in pain, but stood up before slamming his right hand against the Chuunin's mouth. The man was dazed all right.

The hospital entrance was devoid of life. He dropped the guard in a seated position, with her face 'cradled' by her hands. He unhooked the keys from her side and then looked around.

The obituary floor…he had to reach the obituary floor…there was only the lift. He mentally cursed. Bodies were important to shinobi villages: every step would be hard to go through…unless…

He eyed the knocked out guard and smirked.

Kotetsu was waiting for his pal to swap with him. The bodies did not look favourably that night, and he frankly would rather enjoy staying above rather than below in the freezing cold. The doors of the lift 'dinged' and there Izumo came out. He stopped and looked around, before smiling and nodding in his direction.

"Took you long enough, Izumo!" Kotetsu remarked as he slowly walked forward.

Izumo walked with ease towards him, smiling and shrugging. "Upstairs all yours," Kotetsu brought up his right hand to clasp on Izumo's in their usual greeting…when a strong blunt trauma _impacted_ against his _balls._ Another soon followed it on the side of his face, and a third one then slammed him on the ground. He was about to scream, when a kunai came down on his neck.

"Scream and you're dead meat," Izumo gruffly remarked. "Now, sleep," and the fist that came against his face…yeah, that one hurt him to unconsciousness and beyond.

Naruto removed his bloodied fist from the other Chuunin's broken face. He stood up and looked around, before grabbing onto the shinobi's body and carrying it with him. His eyes settled on the set of seals carved around the columns of the obituary room…it was obvious they checked for intruders. At the same time, they could not work always, so something had to deactivate them…something like being in the presence of a 'keyed in' Chuunin, who however could not simply accept the job as a 'lifetime' one…

Therefore there was a slip of paper —a something that connected to the seal matrix— and allowed one entrance without triggering the traps. Naruto was on a time schedule, or he would have checked for a paper slip in the Chuunin's pockets.

He dropped the body near the last of the metallic boxes that 'supposedly' contained the corpses of the dead shinobi. Calmly, his right hand went to the handle of the thing.

_If_ Sai had told him the truth…

He swallowed nervously.

What was he doing!?

He had attacked fellow Konoha shinobi, he had acted without thinking, or planning…this…this couldn't be true! He couldn't be doing this now! He could have asked…

"_When someone is kept hostage, and the risk of the location being found is high, the hostage is relocated."_

Sai had to be lying to him…

But he never had lied before.

He was about to push the handle down when he stilled. There had to be traps on the thing too. He looked beneath and behind the handle, using the forehead protector as an impromptu mirror…and there the seal was, hidden behind it.

He looked to the bleeding corpse of the Chuunin standing guard.

"If it's a normal corpse holder…then nothing happens because he's keyed in. If something happens…then it's not normal and I have to be quick," Naruto's breathing grew ragged. "Come on, Naruto…you can do this."

He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. "You can do this," he grabbed the Chuunin's hand and _pulled_ him against his shoulder, before firmly clasping around the handle the man's limb and pulling it down.

He substituted with the chair on the other side of the obituary just in time. A Gas explosion of sickening purple colour exploded from the corners of the room, as the exit closed down with thick steel bars.

Naruto brought his forehead protector to his nose and concentrated chakra to his right hand in a twirling tornado. The poison spun and flew, sucked in by the concentrated air.

He held his right hand to the side, before launching the obnoxious gas beyond the steel bars to dissipate in the lift —the doors of which closed a moment later.

He didn't have much time.

He charged ahead through the still close panel, calling forth his air technique to rend at the steel panel with his Yoroi Tanto.

The wind chakra sparked against the metal, as the sound of grinding occupied the entire room as Naruto's teeth grit furiously.

"Open! Open! Work! Open!" he growled as he poured his chakra into the Tanto that could cut through Samurai's plates.

Wind Chakra and Chakra steel sliced in half the panel, allowing him to gaze into a handle that he could twist.

He slammed his _Naruto Uzumaki_ against the handle, watching it spin as the sides of the panel burst in an cloud of needles —another trap, brute-forced through.

"Whatever is in here, it's well kept," Naruto murmured. The floor near him suddenly caved in, revealing stairs of stone that descended in a spiral. "No time," he chuckled to himself as he heard an explosion rock through the lift's canal. They had probably used explosives or fire to dissipate the poison.

Naruto jumped down the spiral stairway, slapping explosive tags alongside —there probably was not another exit…but as long as he had enough time…

And he probably wouldn't be going to Inoichi's counselling. If the man entered his mind…

The tags detonated behind him, just as he reached a wider chamber filled with wooden archways and a wood floor. Debris fell on his back, as he spun around Kunai in hand. The entrance had caved in…good enough for him.

He exhaled and looked around calmly. Tables filled with dust and glowing green crystals that hung from the ceiling filled most of the room, but at the end of it, sitting in a sort of cross-legged position, was a giant statue with nine eyes. Chains of pure gold surrounded the statue's frame, as they seemed to come from the floor beneath the statue itself.

Nine eyes…of which two were open and _looking_ at him…

Naruto's breath hitched as he felt a sickening sensation pull through his guts. He groaned and clutched his chest, before slowly stumbling with his right hand against the surface of the desk closest to him.

His heart began to beat erratically as he started to frantically look around once more.

"Mom?" he croaked out. "_Mom_, are you here!?"

Why? Sai had said…he had written…

He heard a loud gurgling. It seemed to come from the base of the statue itself. He hesitated, the golden chains were familiar to him…they resembled those Mito used…

He ran forward, only for the sensation of pulling to intensify in his chest. He screamed in pain as he fell on the ground, clutching his stomach. He moved closer. He clenched his teeth and sobbed as he took another step, and then one more. He screamed to himself as he finally stumbled towards the border of the chasm that apparently separated him from the statue —which sat on a column of wood.

And beneath it…

A mass of tumorous flesh from which departed golden chains, with medical hooks and needles attached to the gangrenous pulsing mass that could not be considered human and yet…

It looked so much like those monsters Orochimaru…

No…

No…

NO…

It couldn't…

Naruto's vision blurred as tears began to fall down his cheeks. His tears dropped from his chins and fell down, in the pitch-black darkness where a moaning and suffering body, bloated by the gangrene that painfully ate away at its life was…

A body that twisted and pulled…a body that was…

"No," he murmured… "Why?"

He crawled away from the spot, the tightening sensation in his chest increasing the more he tried to fight and leave the horrible place.

He bitterly slammed his fists on the desk closer to him. "Why…why…"

He laughed. "Why?"

He chuckled. "_WHY_?"

His eyes narrowed down to mere pools of _crimson, and they shone like_ _embers_.

"_**WHY DID YOU DO THIS, OLD MAN!? WHY!?"**_

"Oh my!" a voice soon echoed in the room. Naruto's body spun as he launched a dozen of shurikens against the figure in question —a masked and cloak wearing man. The shurikens passed through the body with ease as the masked man looked at him with 'curiosity'…if one wearing a mask could do so.

"Who are you?" Naruto snarled as his hands clenched against his Yoroi Tanto. The chakra that pooled out was purple and golden, as sand and chakra seemed to flow through the blade giving off a spectral-like appearance to it.

"I'm Tobi!" the figure clapped his hands excitedly. "I'm a good boy!" it said with a knowing tone as it walked forward. "And you," his voice grew colder, "Have trespassed on Konohagakure property."

The figure nodded. "As a good boy of Konohagakure no Sato, I have to punish you!" he sing-sung… "Unless…"

Naruto snarled and charged at the figure, his entire frame passing through it with ease as the enemy grabbed him by the ankle and slammed him on the floor. "Listen," his voice was quiet now as he held him down —disarming him at the same time. "They're coming. They'll blow up the room and come in," Tobi murmured. "I can bring you out of here, to safety," the cloaked figure murmured. "But you have to let go for now, understood?"

"They're using _MY MOTHER AS A BEAST_! _DANZO_ said to trust him! HE SAID TO TRUST HIM! THIS IS WHAT I TRUSTED HIM FOR!? MY MOM'S A…"

A fist slammed into Naruto's back. "Calm down or you'll let them win!" Tobi hissed. "You don't want to let them win, do you? You don't want to let the enemy win! You want to win, don't you? Everyone loves to win!"

Naruto's breathing grew ragged. "What are you talking about…"

"Not enough time to explain —they've got the Godaime opening the road now," there was a loud rumbling. "I'll take you away from here for the moment…I'll let you talk with a friend."

Naruto felt his body collapse on himself, as he was sucked into what looked like the cloaked man's eye…wasn't that the sharingan?

The moment he landed on the other side, he found himself into a world made of white cubes that had a sort of perpetual gloom hanging around it. There was another cloaked man on the same square he was sitting on, and the man's eyes as well as forehead protector caught his attention.

The man's eyes were twin sharingans.

The man's forehead protector…

It was _slashed_.

"Did Madara send you here?" the boy's voice was monotone as it spoke, "I suppose…would you like to chat?"

Naruto tensed and took a defensive posture. A clattering on the ground near him made him move his eyes to the side, where his Yoroi Tanto appeared from nowhere. He lowered himself to grab the blade, and the next instant he felt a kunai press against his neck. "If I wanted you dead, do not believe you would as much as have managed to take a single breath in my presence," the man spoke coldly. "We need to talk," he whispered.

"You're a missing-nin," Naruto murmured back.

"Are you sure?" Itachi retorted, bringing up an eyebrow. "What if I've been following orders up until now in deep cover?"

Naruto shuddered. "You'll kill me if I try to escape?"

"There is no escape from here," a third voice spoke then. "Unless I take you outside," the masked figure spoke crisply, his body slowly forming in the space right next to Naruto. "Now, Naruto-kun," the masked man said… "We need to talk."

"About what?" Naruto trembled as he tried to hold his grasp on the Yoroi Tanto. He hadn't seen the Uchiha missing-nin, and he hadn't seen the other man attack him. They were both Jounin level. They had to be that or even beyond, maybe Anbu or…or worse.

There was no way…

"About the deep darkness, rooted within the breast of Konohagakure," the masked shinobi made a small bow. "The Darkness which consumes all light, which drowns the village into a despair so thick there can be no survival…"

"The darkness…brought forth by the Sandaime's foolishness," Itachi murmured. "And by the need for peace."

"What are you talking about?"

"The Kyuubi attacked on the night you were born," the masked man spoke. "But who…exactly, knew where you were being birthed?"

"Few people," Itachi nodded. "The Sandaime, the Yondaime, the wife of the Sandaime, two medic-chuunin…" Itachi's eyes turned to their sharingan form. "_And my mother_."

"What does that have to do with what I saw!?"

"The Uchiha clan was considered second best, since the Nidaime Hokage named them the police of Konoha, holding them in the outskirts and making the other clans hate them…and the prideful Uchihas…they could not understand that, could they?" the masked man spoke. "You see…they didn't want to remain the second best for long," the cloaked figure chuckled. "So…what could they do?"

The cloaked figure's shoulders began to tremble. "It all began in the third shinobi war, with Kirigakure," the mask slowly was unclasped, to reveal a dark haired man with half of his face pale and the other half looking old, older than normal. "They found a way to seal their Bijuu into a young kunoichi of Konoha, to try and send her back to the village…and then unleash the demon," the man's face moved to the side, to reveal an empty eye-socket. "Had they managed it…the village would have been destroyed."

"But they didn't," Itachi supplied, "Because the attack was stopped…by _Obito Uchiha_," Itachi's sharingan moved to where the other man was, who simply scoffed.

"You knew from the beginning who I was, calling myself 'Madara' was just a way to attract a possible prodigy in my camp…"

"Yes," Itachi nodded. "So, Naruto…you are the chief of a village and you have been shown a way to utilize Jinchuuriki…and their Bijuu, which does not risks your own shinobi. You just need to plant the Bijuu in a person, send her back to her village…and _then_ you have to unleash the beast."

"I sentenced to death my teammate," Obito murmured, "When I told the plans of Kirigakure to the Hokage…and I didn't even know it then," he shook his head. "You know, when I opened my eyes after the battle against the enemy ninjas…when I found myself healed…the first thing I did was to return to Konoha. When I stupidly revealed my Mangekyou power —hoping for a promotion to Jounin of all things…blind and naïve fool that I was—the Sandaime had me keep myself dead…as a deep cover operative with few ties. I was invaluable," he tapped his Mangekyou, "And with this, no security was too tight. Peace was maintained throughout the land but…but the _thought_ remained rooted into the mind of the Sandaime."

Itachi spoke next. "What if a weapon test could be conducted with a different Bijuu? What if the Kyuubi could be unleashed on another village? Only an Uzumaki could seal the Kyuubi within them, and the Uzumaki…as Mito showed, could survive the extraction of the Nine Tails…"

Naruto began to tremble. "My mother…"

"Was a Kunoichi of Konoha," Itachi continued. "She would have sacrificed herself for the village of course…but would her son do so too? There weren't any Uzumaki nearby totally loyal to the village...and loyalty, in this world…is more valued than anything else."

"The one who did it, on the other hand…was not troubled by such things," Obito murmured. "Danzo Shimura…he ordered me to conduct a _weapon_ _test_. If the Uchiha could control the Kyuubi as the legends said, then an Uchiha Jinchuuriki would be a veritable weapon of mass destruction," Obito nodded.

"You see, Naruto," Itachi said, "Both the Sandaime and Shimura had different ideas on what to do and what end to achieve…Shimura Danzo wanted the Mangekyou and the Kyuubi to be useable in _any_ Jinchuuriki, to ensure a weapon that could be controlled _as long as there was a Mangekyou active_. The Sandaime wanted a weapon that in dire straits could be _unleashed_ and then _resealed_ again...with minimum risks, but all of that was based only on one particular circumstance…"

"That the Jinchuuriki could _survive_ the extraction and have a substitute available," Obito murmured. "The only recorded history told about _Mito_ Uzumaki being able to survive long enough to watch the Kyuubi sealed in Kushina Uzumaki, and _nothing_ more… It was not enough. It needed to be _tested_," the cloaked man shook his head. "But the Uzumaki had been wiped out by the time Kushina had grown; nothing remained of them except a few, stranded too far out of the village's control to regain…only Kushina Uzumaki was in the village…"

"And then she became pregnant," Itachi continued as Naruto's blood-freezing chill made the boy shudder. "And thus there now were two Uzumaki in the village."

"It was Danzo who gave the order, but given time…the Sandaime would have probably asked if Kushina would have wanted to try being freed of the Kyuubi…"

Naruto's knees gave away as he fell on the ground. "What happened?"

"I was the sole possessor of the Mangekyou in Konoha at the time," Obito spoke crisply. "_I was ordered_ to free the Kyuubi on that day and then implant it in another child. The test was to see if it could work…if _any_ child could work as long as I was there with a Mangekyou, then there was no need for the Uzumaki —and the Mangekyou could be passed down to whoever needed it," the man's right hand went to gesture at Itachi's face. "Especially to the Uchiha, who could naturally produce a Mangekyou given the right form of training and whose loyalty would thus be proven undoubted…"

"And the child chosen…was my brother, Sasuke," Itachi murmured. "But the Yondaime wasn't told of that…and he intervened."

Obito scoffed. "Who wouldn't? He…"

"_Be wary of the Uchiha. Kill them if the choice is to be made. Leave none alive. Whatever happens, do not trust any of them, ever…and don't trust the Kyuubi. He might be a prisoner against his will, but that does not make him any less dangerous or sinless."_

Naruto closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. "Get. To. The. Point!" he snarled. "What does that have to do with the way…with that…with how my mother was!"

"An infant Jinchuuriki is not a menace," Obito murmured. "The Sandaime refused to extract the Kyuubi from you: the Mangekyou method hadn't been demonstrated, and there were no other Uzumaki in the area that could work well enough," he shook his head. "Kushina Uzumaki was catatonic, to say the least. Attempts to bring her back…were ineffective. To counteract that…Orochimaru began testing the cursed seal of Earth, which he used to fake being the new Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. He thought that if chakra could reach her, then a mean for communication would be achievable. And since Senjutsu chakra could travel through nature itself, he was _right_."

Obito grimaced. "And _wrong_ at the same time…because your mother's sanity was slowly eroded by the seal, she had to be locked up, but her skill in containing Bijuu and her special chakra, which you did not develop…it couldn't be 'removed' and it couldn't be left alone…it had to be _harvested_."

He took a step back, before slowly placing both of his arms behind his back.

"Hashirama kept the tailed beasts into the statue you have seen. When he gifted them to others, he held the statue…which had been gifted down his line all the way from the sage of the six paths…"

Naruto closed his eyes. "Did the Sandaime know?"

"He had no choice but to comply, Naruto," Obito smiled. "Because if he _didn't_…then who would be holding the statue back from being summoned by Pain? Who would be holding the captured Bijuu inside of it? Who would!? _You_? You can't even control your Bijuu! You're a useless Jinchuuriki, an average Chuunin…maybe with some bright points, but you need polish…a lot of it," the Uchiha shook his head.

"So why am I here?"

"Because you _managed_ to get there… I don't know who told you. I don't know how…but you saw and now it can't be hidden any longer from you…the truth, this truth…it's _yours_. What will you do with it now? Your mother is nothing more than a husk of gangrenous flesh used to hold down a monstrous weapon that in the hands of Pain would mean _the end of the world_ as you know it! Orochimaru was burned by the Sandaime, by Danzo…people cannot be trusted, Naruto!"

"Then _why_ should I trust you!?" he screamed back at the man.

"Because I can change this…" Obito whispered. "With the power of the Jinchuuriki…with _your_ power…with _your_ blood…you can become the Jinchuuriki of the Juubi. And _then_…then we can extract it without killing you…and we can use his power…the power of the sage of the six paths himself and cast the technique spoken of in myth! Creation of all things, Naruto…everything, this entire rotten world can be _**REWRITTEN**_!" Obito screamed as he clasped both hands on Naruto's shoulders.

"No death! No shinobi! No Samurai! No chakra! No wars! No blood! No betrayals! A World of Truth! A world of ideals! Rewritten into purity, into honesty, a world where filth cannot live! A world where death does not happen…where everyone can truly be happy…such a world, Naruto…how can you say no to it? To a world where your parents are alive, where there is no blood, death…can you refuse such a world lightly?"

Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief as Obito finished talking. "B-but…"

"Or you can stay and wonder…when they extracted Sora's chakra…when they ordered you to kill…did they do it to show how Konoha was strong…or how dangerous you were? And if the latter…did they do it because they wanted you feared…or because they wanted you removed?" Obito asked then with a small grin. "You see, Naruto…the Godaime doesn't know you, and she is in her position because _Orochimaru_ told her." Obito winked. "Soon, you will be asked to head to a secret location…soon, you will be brought to train with someone able to control your Bijuu and…soon, you will be _harvested_."

"You are a tool of Konoha, Naruto," Itachi spoke firmly. "But it doesn't have to end this way, with you used up and discarded. It doesn't have to end with you dead to fulfil the need of a village built on the bones of innocents," he extended his hand. "Come with us…we can train you, make you stronger…and then, together, we can strike down Orochimaru, claim his powers for our own…his army for us…his technology…and we can destroy those who oppose us…don't you want to be _happy_ for once, Naruto? Don't you want to be _selfish_?"

"What if you're lying?" Naruto croaked.

"Then…" Itachi remarked. "We'll give you proof."

Obito nodded. "Go back home," he clapped his hands on Naruto's shoulders. "And wait tomorrow…then tell me if they assigned you a sensei…or a _jailer_."

And Naruto disappeared in a twirling motion, only for his surroundings to shift and morph. He staggered and landed thus in his room, where Sakura was sleeping softly on his sofa with the book of the Hiss collection over her face, wearing a pair of loose pants and a sweatshirt.

By the smell in the room, she had probably taken a shower and had fallen asleep waiting for him.

He shuddered all of a sudden, bringing down both of his hands against the wooden floor as tears began to pool down his eyes.

This…This _peace_…

Was built on pain…his pain, that of his mother, that of the shinobi who…

He…

The…

He clenched his eyes tightly, as if doing so could keep the thoughts away. He couldn't do this…

But _he had to_.

Therefore, he gently nudged himself next to Sakura's sleeping form, letting the blanket cover him too and then trying to fall asleep. He could do as he always did when he was little: if he _ignored_ the problem…then maybe it would leave…and if it didn't…then he would have to find a solution…

Until then however…he tried to fall asleep, trying to forget the fleshy pulsing mass of gangrenous organs that apparently was his mother…he tried to forget the pain in his chest and the despair he felt being in that room, he tried to forget the nervousness of having entered a shinobi hospital and…

He mentally cursed.

He had the patient's gown on still. He slowly undid the knot on the back of his neck, and then let it fall behind him on the floor. He slowly stumbled back, tightly compressing the gown and then looking outside his room. He could see the hospital far off being lit up like a Christmas tree, and he just knew the Anbu patrols would increase after that day. With the use of Wind, he carefully _shredded_ the gown to small dust pieces.

What he failed to see, behind him, was Sakura's eyes staring at his back with a perplexed expression.

When he did turn, Sakura's face was still asleep. He sighed in relief and headed back to his spot on the sofa.

With a low moan, Sakura's hands clasped against his jacket and her face snuggled closer to his chest.

"Naruto?" she whispered in a half-asleep tone. Naruto tensed and froze, before slowly relaxing when no other words came through.

The silence stretched as the time went by, until in the end, Sakura murmured with a barely audible voice…

"_I love you."_

And to those words…

Naruto did not know how to react.

**Author's notes**

**Ahem. I lie in the AN too. Sorry for those expecting shippuuden.**

**I know many will find it bad but…I can't do it. I did two time-skip sessions already and now…now I can't. It goes against me. I can't let a character go through 'three years of nothing' and then return changed.**

**I need to change him as I go.**

**And I will repeat myself now, here, and forever more.**

**No Pairing. Sakura may 'Love' Naruto. Does not mean NaruSaku. (Ps, who noticed I do 'ARCS' by giving a certain 'similarity' to titles to the chapters?) **

**Remember that characters can **_**LIE**_** and are not Omniscient people of truth. If, let's say, Itachi and Obito work for Pain, then lying and asking Naruto to come with them could be an answer. Then again, the best lies hold some truth in them…**_**don't they**_**?**

**The statue being in Konoha…**

***sighs* I could explain it. Really, it's a plothole of Kishimoto.**

**The statue is the body of the ten tails. That the case, then the 'moon' is just that, a moon.**

**So the 'body' of the ten tails isn't actually the moon? Nope. It's the moon. So what is the 'statue' of the paths? Well…**

**It's the prison Hashirama built to hold the Bijuu down. (After the last manga fight scene between Madara and Hashirama where we can see him create a giant Buddha statue of wood…makes sense)**

**The Logic behind Obito's words: he survives. He returns to Konoha (I mean…from **_**KANNABI**_** bridge, you end up in **_**KIRI**_**-Border first!? Did you look at the map Obito!? No really, look at the damn MAP! Kannabi bridge is on the LEFT, Kiri is on the RIGHT. **_**Konoha is damn closer!**_** There is thus no way he could have met with Kakashi killing Rin…logically speaking, unless he belonged there for another reason.**

**That reason being an **_**assignment**_** because his Mangekyou was useful to Konoha.**

**In canon, he unlocks the Mangekyou with Rin's death. In True Logical Shade-Route, **_**Someone any canon reader knows**_** unlocks it for him —because really…**_**why not**_**?**

**Then, and this is the end of the explanation behind the logics… The Sandaime is portrayed as more of a 'light grey' colour. He didn't want to 'use and throw away' shinobi with the Mangekyou's risk of blindness/ the risk the Kyuubi didn't work and preferred a 'safe and tested' route. (Kushina became Jinchuuriki starting the academy…aka at Five years/six years. They could have used a 'one-shot nuke' with Naruto when the boy was at five, effectively **_**ending**_** a great threat once.)**

**Danzo preferred the 'dark' grey route: power, controllable and easy to use if proven true…with some blood along the way, but all **_**Hail Konoha**_**! And if he did take the Mangekyou in him…then HE could control the Kyuubi.**

**Remember that this 'Tsunade' isn't the 'Master rasengan and get shiny jewel' one. This is still the 'why am I not trashed with alcohol?'**

**The reason 'Sasuke' was chosen first is because of the canon lines Sasuke says to Naruto during their battle at the Valley of the End. 'Our positions could have been reversed!' …I gave it a bit more of **_**meaningful**_** reason (which my Sasuke doesn't know.)**

**From Shade, hoping to have mind-raped/fucked with the readers enough for today…**

**A hearty see ya soon and…**

**The AN are all lies! The Author lies! There is no truth!**

**And the Yoru No Kage…it's Shade of the Night.**

…

**Fluff for all.**


	42. The Reconciliation of Broken Hearts

Introverted

Chapter Forty-Two

The man that waited for Naruto at the training ground, the next morning, was a pale skinned and emotionless looking shinobi that could have passed off as Sai's father —if Naruto hadn't been sure Sai had been birthed from a pool ink made of sarcastic remarks.

His forehead protector was one of the old models, which covered also the sides of his face and had the symbol of the leaf engraved on, rather than the metallic plate stitched to the piece of cloth. The training ground had a waterfall in a corner, which gushed out water that proceeded to form a river —a river that then continued all the way through the various training grounds, from the Forty-Fourth to the Seventh and beyond.

The man looked at him for a moment, before he gave a polite bow in his direction.

"Come at me with the intent to kill, Naruto Uzumaki," he assumed a defensive posture. "Let me see if you're worthy of the rank of Chuunin."

Naruto swallowed once and schooled his heart. The wind blew in the clearing, scattering the light dusting of dirt from the ground in the air.

He sliced his palm and flung the kunai.

It soon collided with another and to the spark of the two weapons meeting, Naruto charged ahead as fast as he could. The Jounin was just toying with him —the man's speed was nothing he could reach without training…but arrogance was the first step to defeat.

Shurikens departed from Naruto's sleeves, short and controlled bursts of wind ejecting them towards the Jounin's direction. When they passed overhead, Naruto's fist came against the man's face when the Jounin crouched. His fist met a solid surface that soon began to sizzle. Naruto had barely the time to slam a kick into the wooden trunk covered in explosives and send it to fly that it detonated into deadly shrapnel.

Metallic caltrops and shurikens had filled the insides of the trunk, and as the explosion tore apart the wood so too did it unleash the metallic shower in the area. The blood on Naruto's hand attracted the sand from the ground, which lifted itself to form a shield the size of the boy's head on the areas the weapons tried to hit.

Naruto snarled as he looked around the empty clearing.

He heard a soft rumbling noise from the ground, which forced him to jump in the air and begin his work on the hand-seals required just as the Jounin emerged with both his hands to grab at the boy's ankles. The wind blades erupted from his mouth and tore through yet another one of those wood Bunshin. Naruto carefully skidded to a halt near the waterfall, his eyes narrowed and another kunai was in his hand.

He just had to find a way to get to the real body.

To be on the safe side, he placed a Bunshin in his place and slowly lowered himself in the water, holding his breath. The water was freezing cold, but he was sure he could stay there for at least five minutes. He heard the soft rumbling of the waterfall behind him, while in front and above him his bunshin dispersed because of a volley of shuriken.

Ninja battles generally went with brief bursts of activity followed by long times of thinking: shinobi used hit and run tactics, not brunt force winning. A cold unsettling feeling fell on his shoulders as he slowly turned his head in the water to stare at the face of the Jounin inches away from him, a torchlight beneath the man's chin illuminating his visage like a ghost. Naruto screamed and water entered his mouth, forcing him to jump out and run.

The man was bonkers!

He flung a kunai with an explosive note attached against the river, watching the water detonate and expel wooden chunks from the water.

"How many of those does he have?" Naruto murmured to himself. His feet landed on the ground, just as wood tendrils erupted to ensnare him. They grabbed at his ankles, quickly snaking their way upwards to entrap him completely into a wooden cocoon that sapped his strength.

Naruto closed his eyes and exhaled, before pouring his chakra into the sand that floated near him, letting it grind through the wood and slash him a way out.

"Interesting technique," the Jounin remarked. "It is not in your files," the man was now standing in front of him, his arms crossed. "Who taught it to you?"

Naruto shrugged. "I came up with it."

"It seems more of a _Doton_ than a _Futon_…what brought it up?"

"Listen…I don't even know your name," Naruto began slowly, keeping himself warily ready for another attack. Just to be on the safe side, he substituted with a Bunshin and stuck to the leaves of a nearby treetop.

"I am Yamato," the figure spoke crisply. "Your private instructor and the one particularly suited in teaching you a special technique."

"Which is?" Naruto's right eyebrow rose in curiosity.

The man's right palm came forward.

"_Suiton: Hahonryū_," water spiralled from the man's palm, forming a sort of miniature tornado. "Jiraiya-sama told me you have created a technique similar to this, albeit using only wind release or chakra."

"You mean my _Naruto Uzumaki_?"

"Is that the name chosen for the technique?" the other man made a small 'feh' noise from his mouth, as if he found the thing _endearing_. "I did not know you had such a pride."

"I don't," Naruto scoffed. "It's just…Maelstrom-Whirlpool."

"Whirlpool would be a good name for a water technique," Yamato remarked. "And Maelstrom is redundant, since it means a 'large whirlpool' to begin with."

Naruto exhaled and brought his right hand to scratch the back of his neck. "I'm not good with names."

"I understand," Yamato nodded. "How about calling it 'The Naruto' once you learn how to put water release in it?"

"Water release? I'm learning that already?" Naruto scrunched his face up. "Doesn't it require a long time to learn a release a shinobi doesn't have an affinity to?"

"Yes," Yamato nodded. "And unfortunately we will have to speed the process up with this," he grabbed a scroll from within his jacket and carefully handed it over. "This is a forbidden technique, which comes directly from the Forbidden Scroll in the care of the Hokage," the Jounin murmured seriously. It that moment, Naruto sheepishly jumped down from the treetop and walked forward.

Only to be punched in the guts and sent careening against the wooden trunk of the tree.

"Nice substitution, but easy to see through when your Bunshin forgets to breathe," Yamato said as he removed his fist from Naruto's guts. The boy groaned but slowly stood. His stomach was starting to learn how to avoid retching from the blows…and that attack hadn't even been all that strong.

He looked down to find a light sheen of sand where the man had hit him. Ah…so the sand had protected him then.

"As I was saying," the Jounin's hand still clasped on the scroll, "This is a Kinjutsu of Konohagakure no Sato. You are forbidden from speaking of this technique to anyone else, you are forbidden from showing the handseals required to learn it to anyone else, you are forbidden from executing this technique without express permission from your Jounin-sensei, your Hokage or whoever is the Taichou of your squad." Yamato's eyes narrowed on him.

"You are forbidden from mentioning knowing this technique. You cannot hint at possessing such technique. If your Taichou has been informed, he will let you know through a carefully prepared code-phrase that you may use it."

Yamato still held on to the scroll, making Naruto squirm uncomfortably in his spot.

"This technique is extremely chakra intensive, only a few actually can learn it and utilize it, and you have been chosen to learn it because we are in a state of emergency. Only a few selected Jounin know of this technique, and of those few even less have a way of actually utilizing it fully."

Naruto swallowed. What was the technique about, to have all those prohibition on?

"This," he gestured at the scroll. "Is the Kage Bunshin technique," he carefully handed over the small scroll to Naruto. "You will _learn_ this technique today, and you will do well to remember that knowledge of any Kinjutsu directly tied to Konohagakure no Sato will mean your immediate termination should you betray your village. Should you decide to quit the shinobi world with the knowledge of said technique, you will be _terminated_." Yamato's eyes still pointed at Naruto's squirming form.

"This technique has ramifications and consequences upon usage on the battlefield that you would do better remember. This technique is extremely _powerful_, and extremely _dangerous_…I cannot stress this enough," Yamato's hands moved to clasp on Naruto's shoulders. "But by being _chosen_ to learn this technique, you have proven you are one of the most trustworthy shinobi of Konoha, and after you will learn it…I will induct you in Anbu."

Naruto's eyes widened briefly. "Anbu?" he murmured, clenching the scroll.

"Indeed, all Jinchuuriki belong to Anbu. They take orders directly from the Hokage, and they train to become the best they can be as defenders of the village." Yamato nodded. "I came here to test you, and since Anbu work in pairs or squads to complete their missions in the best possible ways we _will_ be teamed up."

"Why?"

"You do realize I have been using Mokuton release till now, right?" the Jounin remarked carefully. "I am best suited to control you, should you go out of the line like you did during the exams."

"_And wait tomorrow…then tell me if they assigned you a sensei…or a jailer."_

Naruto grimaced. "Doesn't entering Anbu require consent from the shinobi?"

"In normal cases, yes," Yamato remarked with a nod. "Unfortunately not in these circumstances: we are at war, we are in need of shinobi able to generate enough damage to stall our enemies. Orochimaru of the Sannin possesses superior firepower and the only way to even the odds is to train you to become the turning point of this war."

"B-But…"

"Only because Orochimaru has not yet begun firing upon Konoha does not mean he will not eventually start," Yamato quipped back. "Where S-rank shinobi are involved, months or even years of preparation take place beforehand. The Kage Bunshin technique will help us train you and shorten the time needed to learn anything you might need in fighting him."

"He's an S-rank," Naruto whispered paling visibly. "You can't tell me I…"

"You _will_,"Yamato stressed out, "Not alone, not tomorrow but eventually you _will_ face him and his army with the power of the Kyuubi and you will win for the good of Konoha and the villagers."

Naruto swallowed nervously, and closed his eyes. He had the question at the tip of his tongue 'What if I don't?' or 'What if I don't want to?' and he knew the answer was already chosen for him. It was on his forehead, the answer…he was a shinobi of Konoha. The moment he donned the forehead protector, he had made a choice.

A choice he could end only with his death on the battlefield or of retirement in old age. If he refused, they'd extract the Kyuubi from him. He knew that, didn't he? They'd probably hold it in that statue of theirs, deep down…but that would mean losing a war asset.

No, they wouldn't do that. To keep him in check, to control him, they'd hit where they knew he would be hurt.

Sai was away with Jiraiya. Sakura was training elsewhere. Divide and conquer was their tactic. He could see the underlying lines of thoughts and decisions the enemy had made. He imagined a set of thin strands of light that connected each individual to one another and he knew, he just knew in that moment what would happen if he refused or left.

First, they'd kill off Sai in some 'mistake'. If he kept on refusing, a non-lethal accident would happen to Sakura. If he insisted, they'd kidnap her and hold her hostage. They'd probably try and convince him one last time and if all of it failed…

They had a mean to control his Bijuu didn't they? If the man, Obito, had said the truth…

"Good," Yamato said roughly, narrowing his eyes on him. "You understand the seriousness of the situation and are giving it a good thought. This is good. Shinobi should always think before acting, because acting rashly with no plan can signify death."

"What if I don't learn the technique today?" Naruto murmured.

"Then we will keep up during the night," Yamato replied. "I hope there is no-one waiting for you at home, because unless this technique is mastered you will not leave this training ground."

Naruto swallowed once more. He unclasped the scroll and slowly began to read. The Kage Bunshin technique required the chakra of the user to split in half, just as it required a starting expenditure of chakra to make it work. Furthermore, a human body required a minimum amount of chakra in its body to work and if it didn't then chakra exhaustion or death could happen.

The list of risks went on, ranging from 'deranged psycho-traumatic multiple personalities disorders' to 'depressive and suicidal thoughts' while moving on the list and arriving to the 'internal haemorrhage risks and brain death'.

"The Kage Bunshin's purpose is normally that of exploring in safety an enemy location," the man remarked. "Once the clone is destroyed, the knowledge of what it has seen automatically _links back_ to the user's mind."

Naruto nodded as he read. It was sort-of what Mito had told him, albeit in that case it related to Senjutsu chakra. "Orochimaru has this knowledge?" he asked then carefully.

The man looked at him for a moment, before nodding in resignation.

"He has," there was a light sigh, "And there is no doubt his madness is tied to this in part…and something more I am not at the liberty of saying at present."

"Aren't you afraid I might become like him, then?"

"No," Yamato shook his head. "The prolonged usage of the technique for long terms _might_, as Kage Bunshin tend to acquire a sort of sentience beyond that of their creator given enough time," the Jounin spoke. "But no Kage Bunshin you create will ever be made to last beyond our training periods…and you will not use them in private, or anywhere where you cannot be supervised."

"So I'm loyal without a doubt now?" Naruto murmured. "Shouldn't I go through a Yamanaka's mind screw?"

"The Kyuubi might not like that," Yamato remarked. "And if he doesn't… Konoha needs all the Jounin to prepare for an eventual outright war. The attack on the border hushed, we suffered some losses. Your peer group is being trained as we speak…" the Jounin shook his head. "The time of Peace is coming to an end. The reign of the Godaime Hokage will be known as one of war soon enough."

"And I'll herald it?" Naruto asked dubiously. "I don't know if they told you, but…"

"Naruto Uzumaki," Yamato spoke crisply. "This is no longer a matter of the few," his eyes narrowed on him. "The Village of Konoha is not the Land of Fire. In case of war, the Land of Fire would suffer…let me ask you, would you willingly let innocents suffer _throughout the entire land_? Would you let me die, their village razed to the ground? The first casualties of war are the farmers of the enemy, for no opponent fights well on an empty stomach. Crops burn and orphans weight down on the enemy's supplies. The elderly aren't spared out of mercy, but so that the mercy of the allies will weight them all down."

"What if I'm not ready? I'm…"

"Then you will become ready!" Yamato snapped. "For the safety of Konoha, of the Land of fire, of the Daimyo and of all those you consider your friends! Would you let the enemy claim their lives, because you refused to act? Is this it? Are you a coward, Naruto Uzumaki!?"

"No!" Naruto snarled back. "But I don't like being _used_!" he screamed at the Jounin. "The Godaime wants me to become a weapon!? Then she'd better move her granitic old ass and tell me in person! I am supposed to be loyal without a fault! But _where_ has the village shown its loyalty _TO ME_!? Where is _my_ side of the deal, eh?"

"You have received permission to train on techniques usually left for Jounin or Anbu rank shinobi," Yamato replied firmly. "Is that not enough?"

"I'm not a child who enjoys shiny jutsus or techniques!" Naruto hissed. "And this looks more like a loaded deal than a real one!" he flailed around the scroll of the Kage Bunshin. "And you don't insert in Anbu shinobi who haven't proven their loyalty, everyone knows that! Sure, you'd put me _somewhere_…but I doubt you'd be sending me to a _real_ Anbu facility to train," there was a _slight_ and _brief_ widening of the pupil from Yamato.

_And Naruto caught it._

"I see," the boy sighed. "You want to deal with me? I want to speak with the Hokage, _directly_." He slammed the Kage Bunshin scroll on the ground and turned around. "I'm tired of being used. You want my cooperation and my powers? Then start _grovelling_."

Two could play that game. Naruto left unhindered, his steps taking him quickly towards the head of the Yondaime Hokage. He always enjoyed that place, even in youth. He sat down with his legs dangling from the sides of the monument's head and closed his eyes for a brief instant.

It might just as well be his last moment of freedom after all —hadn't those two elders said something about branding him with a seal after all?

He didn't wait for long. Soon the figure of the Godaime Hokage appeared right next to him, her green jacket with the Kanji for 'Gambler' written behind it.

She had a frown on her face. "Well? What are your terms, brat?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he stared perplexed at the woman. "W-What?"

"Your. Terms," the Godaime ground out. "That's why you made such a fuss, right? Your terms."

"You're willing to listen?"

Tsunade snorted. "Of course I am. If it depended on the assholes of the council, I'd have to knock you out and brand you…but we're sort-of family apparently," she shrugged. "Doesn't matter much, something like cousin three or four times removed…and maybe I'm your great-aunt or something like that."

Naruto blinked. "Ah…yeah," he nodded. "The Uzumaki married in the Senju, right?"

"Yes, Grandfather did do that," Tsunade sighed. "Well? Don't tell me you acted like a peacock with ruffled feathers for no reason."

"I want guarantees," Naruto said. "I want guarantees nothing will happen to my teammates or the people I care about," his tone grew stronger as he spoke. "And I want the truth."

"Why would anything happen to them?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Only an imbecile would target the friends of a Jinchuuriki. Enemy villages generally do their best to keep away…unless they're suicidal or were ordered to."

"I'm talking of the people in this village," Naruto ground out. "If you try to use my teammates as hostages…"

"I've got better ways of employing shinobi then keeping them inside the village, brat," Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Are you paranoid? The old man never said a word about you being paranoid…he had nothing but praise, you know? That's why I gave the green-light for the Kage Bunshin. The council pressed it forward, but," she shrugged. "If the Sandaime hadn't vouched for you even in his death, I wouldn't have. Too risky to hand over to someone you can't check if he's loyal or not because you can't mind walk inside."

"You'd still go through this even after what I did?" Naruto asked slowly. "Why?"

"Brat, what do you want me to say?" the woman crossed her arms over her bountiful chest and looked towards the village. "You know, I _hate_ this village. I hate these people. I hate seeing the civilians frolicking around in peace as if nothing happens and I hate seeing the shinobi go around as if they own the place. I hate the arrogant assholes in the council and I hate the way some of the clan leaders smirk and come in my office demanding this or that because of something the Sandaime supposedly did. _I hate it all_…and here I am as the Hokage. You want my hat?"

"So why do you stay?" Naruto asked, his voice dropped low.

"Because it's my village," Tsunade shrugged. "And…no, there isn't a precise reason…it's just _home_. It took the old geezer menacing to tear down the Senju compound to remind me of that…Konoha is my home." She had a sad face on as she looked at him, "But I suppose it never became yours, did it?"

"My home?" Naruto murmured. "I suppose…it's where my teammates are?"

"Good enough of an answer for the Will of Fire I think," Tsunade said. "Not enough to satisfy the old crones in the council but then again, they'd keep on nagging anyway."

"Does being a shinobi mean to be used and enslaved?"

"No, Kami no," Tsunade rolled her eyes. "You…I suppose a Jinchuuriki can't choose to become a host for a demon, and that I think is what makes them all bitter. I met a few during my travels…scorned by the villagers, ignored or treated like criminals…it's not their fault, but the best treatment they receive is to be considered weapons of the village, like Kumogakure does."

"But we are never free, are we?" Naruto murmured. "And what if…what if I simply wanted freedom?"

"Is your idea of freedom any different from running away?" Tsunade replied. "I did that, hell if I did that…I lost everyone I cared about, I lost the man I loved, my only family, and then I left. I couldn't stand this anymore and so…I went away. I escaped my chains, my duties as a Kunoichi of Konoha. I hid my tracks and went on a spree of drinking and gambling so high that I ate up all my inheritance…but I still felt empty. It was such a dark abyss of despair that I believed it would never be filled," she tapped her right foot on the head of the Yondaime.

"Your father was a great man," Tsunade made a small and brief smile. "When he became Hokage, he could have sought me out for the war…but he didn't. He understood I needed time to grief —if only he had known how long it would take for me, then maybe he wouldn't have let me go…but he did that all the same."

She took a step forward and ruffled Naruto's hair. "In the end however, it all comes down to what you believe is right, rather than what you want or what someone else wants…what is it that you believe is right?"

Naruto breathed in slowly, before whispering. "I want my mother freed from that horrible duty."

Tsunade froze for a moment, before she slowly took a step backwards, her back to the boy. "Ah…so it was you who entered the hospital," she spoke calmly. "You knocked two chuunin out, entered private propriety of Konoha and what-not…the council all but demanded me to _execute_ the criminal who did it." She chuckled.

"Your mother was famous for getting on the nerves of them all…she knew she could get away with a lot of stuff, being the Jinchuuriki…like," Tsunade chuckled. "This one time, she coloured in _bright pink_ the entire Hyuga estate…it was a sight for sore eyes and it made the Hyuga mad."

She snorted. "Of course, I remember it also because my team was the one who had to clean up the mess."

Naruto said nothing, his eyes fixed on the Godaime's back. "You know that, if we do free your mother, the statue will be summoned by Pain?"

"Who is this 'Pain' to begin with?" Naruto asked.

"Jiraiya didn't tell you? No, I suppose he wouldn't," Tsunade exhaled. "Pain…he's the leader of Akatsuki. We don't know where he operates or with whom he operates. We don't know where his base is, only that he gives orders through specific rings. Neither 'Tobi' nor 'Uchiha' managed to get close to him enough to know where his base was..."

Naruto frowned. It looked as if the Godaime didn't know what Obito's plan was or as if she genuinely didn't know of their intended purpose…or maybe she _did_ know, and she _wanted in_. She had lost all the people she loved, hadn't she?

But she seemed honest.

_Seemed_.

There no longer 'was' or 'was not'. There simply was the _appearance_ and the _probability_ of honesty or deceit.

"My mom has suffered enough," Naruto murmured. "That's my term," she remarked.

"That's a hefty thing," Tsunade replied, "One which I would have no trouble granting, if Pain wasn't around."

"So what? She just has to keep on suffering like that? Like some sort of beast hooked on machines? That's inhuman and you know it!" Naruto yelled standing up, his accusing finger pointed at the Godaime.

"Yes, I know it, but do you know the countless deaths that would happen if she wasn't there? Her pain is the sacrifice to be paid to keep it down! Come on Naruto! Do you think she wouldn't have found a mean to end her life if she wanted!? She's hooked to machines, not rendered incapable of conscious decisions! She's doing this, she's holding the statue down because in the last vestiges of sanity that remain in her mind riddled with pain she knows…she knows she's saving your life and that of all the citizens of Konoha," Tsunade murmured with her voice cracked. "Her pain is for the safety of us all…and you spit on her sacrifice for demanding something like this!"

And then she turned and faced him. "Can't you see? Konoha isn't a village of saints, I understand that! But do you really believe my sensei would put your mother in that situation, if there wasn't a real reason for it? Do you think him such a heartless monster!? Naruto! Can't you at least believe in _some_ good in this world?"

Naruto swallowed nervously. "If that's true…then why did you keep this away from me!?"

"I don't know what the Sandaime thought! But I know that if it had been me…I wouldn't have told you to avoid making you suffer through it! Do you enjoy knowing what your mother goes through daily? Do you enjoy this knowledge? Some things are better left unsaid, hidden away…you can't expect all knowledge to be pleasant! I probably think…if the Sandaime hid this from you…it was to protect you."

Naruto laughed bitterly. "_Protect me_?" he snorted. "Always…always about protecting me by keeping things hidden…can't they just _tell me_? Is it too much to ask?"

"As a child, that would have hurt you too much," Tsunade whispered. "I can suspect those were my sensei's thoughts…nothing more," she shook her head. "But…but if those are your terms, then I will try and find an alternative solution. Maybe some seals, or some form of space-time ninjutsu…"

"Why?"

"Because even though I hate Konoha, even though I hate its people…" Tsunade made an awry smile, "It's still my home, the place my loved one sacrificed their lives to protect...and I will protect it, by incurring in whatever debt I need to with the devil itself…"

Naruto swallowed and took a step forward. "I…"

His eyes stung. "I don't…"

And the Godaime Hokage simply hugged the boy then, holding him firmly and gently caressing his hair. "It's all right," she whispered. "You can still cry…you can still be a child for a few moments, you don't have to always be prepared…or ready…"

Naruto closed his eyes and snuggled closer, feeling the old woman's warmth —even though she looked not a year past twenty— and muttered a few words that were lost by the gentle pressure of his pressure against the woman's bosom.

Tsunade simply smiled warmly, before mentally sighing to herself.

Orochimaru…he would destroy the brat without a second thought…she just hoped that whatever time could be scrounged up would be used, because as it was…Naruto had no hopes whatsoever of defeating the Sannin.

Still, if Jiraiya's Kage Bunshin 'gift' proved worthwhile…maybe Naruto would have some semblance of family after all. Two Uzumaki in Konoha were better than one, after all. Just in case something went wrong with controlling the fox.

In the forest of Death, blades and kunai flew in the air. Shuriken and steel wire darted across the landscape, covering in a glint of metal the entire meadow the fight had been going on since the early morning. Sakura exhaled as she flung a fireball against a hole in the ground, forcing her opponent to emerge and spin in mid-air, while launching senbon that missed her.

Spinning giant shurikens sharpened by lighting chakra tore apart wooden branches, as loud curses echoed in unsuspecting places to distract the opponent.

Sakura was in a bad place.

Apparently, her training was a conjoint effort with sensei, a purple-haired monster-woman she no longer wished to recall the name of and the grey haired sensei of Sasuke. She was with the one-eyed Jounin, Kakashi Hatake, and her training consisted of surviving the onslaught that went on. Her sensei was Anbu, and yet she too could not even begin to compare with the grey haired Jounin. The other woman had been thoroughly trashed in the beginning —when she had shown a sharingan in her other eye…maybe she wasn't the purple-whore?

No, she had to be. Her face was the same and she had smiled at her with her usual horrible smile.

Sakura was learning how to evade notice in the midst of battle, and as she discovered, the best place was directly under the line of fire —shinobi naturally assumed only an imbecile would remain visible, thus going all in the 'underneath the underneath' line of thought. This didn't make shinobi _stupid_. They simply 'devolved' a slightly less amount of shurikens to a _potential_ threat rather than a real and _confirmed_ one. Still one shuriken less to dodge or block made it a worthwhile strategy.

"Sakura! Get back!" Kakashi barked the order as she promptly dropped on the ground and charged ahead. The moment she did, the explosive volley of kunai that the two 'opponents' launched ended up harmlessly hitting the spot she would have been, had she followed the command.

She knew the Jounin were just 'lightly' training. Every now and then, a kunai departed from one of their hands with such a speed she could barely see it flicker in mid-air. One day that strength, speed and precision would be hers too. Until that day, however…she would train.

She would become stronger, and then…

She would be there _for_ Naruto, _for_ Sai. As they had been there for her, she would be there for them. Even if it meant having to face off against undefeatable odds.

Two days later, and the funeral of her parents happened. Few people came, and of those who did, less remained to offer their condolences. The owner of the Hebi restaurant did exchange some words of encouragement to the girl, just like a few others of the civilian shopkeepers and distant relatives who lived in the village.

Sakura stood there firmly, smiling sadly, as she thanked for the kind words and clasped hands with the people she knew or had grown up with sometimes —even Ami was in attendance, and she looked properly chastised to boot. Naruto stood next to her like some sort of immovable rock, his gaze firm and settled ahead. He had a grim face on and crossed arm over his chest…but he remained.

The funeral was over after a few minutes, and as everyone went, Sakura found herself naturally following Naruto towards his apartment —that was where she had been sleeping for the past days. Her house held too many painful memories, and she was thinking about selling the bakery and the house altogether, to be at ease with her mind.

She watched Naruto effortlessly and quietly pick up a few things along the way —some of the stall vendors tried to say something, but there was that sort of angry glare on Naruto's face recently…it made her furrow her brows in perplexity. Naruto had never actually been angry _with_ others. Generally, Naruto _moped_. Then again, he had changed since the beginnings of the team…and she had changed as well.

She hadn't shed a tear at the funeral. She wasn't feeling like breaking down and crying. She had grown, matured…she knew she was no longer the naïve little girl that dreamed of Sasuke-kun…and so she supposed Naruto had grown too.

Now, if only she could manage to tell the boy what 'first' mission they had assigned her separately from him…

"Neh, Sakura," Naruto began with hesitation as he opened the door of his apartment and let her in. "There's something I have to tell you," he exhaled as he dropped the grocery bag on the table.

"Ah, what is it?" she asked as she began to slowly take out the vegetables from the brown bag. "Are you making vegetable soup tonight?" she removed a cabbage. "_Cabbage?_ Do you plan on making a soup for tonight? Urgh," she grimaced while mimicking placing two fingers in her mouth, "It's _disgusting_."

"No, that's for tomorrow morning."

"Cabbage _soup_ in the morning?" Sakura shuddered. She blinked after a few minutes, as her brain connected the dots. "Wait, do you intend on having a hangover tomorrow?"

"Depends on how it goes," Naruto replied cryptically once more. "Want to help me with dinner, Sakura?"

"Sure," she shrugged. Naruto would tell her within five minutes at most —he never did hide anything for long.

As expected, after merely a few instants chopping down carrots, Naruto spoke. "I'm leaving on a long term patrol assignment tomorrow," he murmured. "It will be a long eight-twelve month patrol."

Sakura's knife embedded deeply into the wooden board with a sick _thunk_. Her eyes looked towards Naruto grimacing face, as he turned to put the fish to cook on the frying pan. "Which border are you patrolling?" she asked hesitantly.

"Iwagakure —Kusagakure and Takigakure were recaptured and have been brought into the Konoha protectorate recently…so we now have a direct border with Iwa."

"Who'll be going with you?" Sakura asked as a heavy weight slowly settled in her stomach.

"My private sensei and a mix of Kusa and Taki shinobi will, so we'll be able to show a unified front."

"That's…good," Sakura exhaled. "I'll be going too," she added then. "The Godaime-hag decided I needed a long term mission away from you to test the boundaries of my psychological health…I'm fine, but you try and tell her that," the pink haired Chuunin snorted. "I'll be patrolling the Kirigakure border," she shook her head. "They assigned me an eight-twelve month patrol too."

"What a coincidence," Naruto murmured, flipping the fish. "On the other side of the elemental countries?"

"So after tomorrow…we won't see each other for at least a year," Sakura hummed carefully. "Do you know who you're going to leave the apartment to?"

"No, but since I'm on an official mission, it will remain here by the time I come back."

"Good," Sakura awkwardly nodded. "That's good."

"Oh?"

Sakura blushed slightly. "I like it," she murmured.

"But isn't your house…"

"No," her voice said frostily. "I…I was thinking about selling it."

Naruto's eyes widened briefly, before he grimaced. "That's not…well, it's your choice," he spoke softly. "But shouldn't you think a bit more about it?"

"It's just painful," Sakura murmured. "There are…there are so many memories of them and…" her voice trailed off.

"But they're precious to you, right?" Naruto nudged her further. "Sakura…I don't have precious memories of my parents. My childhood is as screwed up as it can become…life dealt me a shitty hand, one so horrible a lesser me would have probably already broken but…" this time it was his voice that trailed off, as he made a couple of raucous coughs —away from the pans of course.

"But I still wouldn't change it for nothing else in the world," he murmured. "The times I spent with you, Sai, Aoba-sensei…the times we spent bantering or talking about things that no sane man would ever talk of…the moment we watched each other's backs and the times we trained…the time you defended me, you covered for me…all of this," he gestured around him. "I wouldn't change it…_ever_. I live for these moments, Sakura. These moments of peace and quiet, where we can just talk in low voices without the risk of death or some dangerous enemy-nin lurking behind the corner…"

"Neh, Naruto?" Sakura smiled briefly, "You know, I think Sai was right." Her voice was soft as she spoke.

"Uh? Why?"

Sakura playfully giggled. "You're really a clueless Harem Lord…"

"Wh-What! Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined pitifully, sputtering as he spoke. "Not you too!"

"Neh, Naruto-kun…" the pink-haired girl said between fits of giggles. "Do you think we'll see each other again in a year?"

"Yes," the boy nodded firmly. "It's a promise."

"And you never go back on your promises, right?" Sakura said then with a teasing tone in her voice.

"Yeah," Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Well then…in a year of time…will you reply to my words?" and as she softly asked that, Naruto frowned. What words was she referring to?

"You can't have forgotten them already!" Sakura whined bringing up her hands to the sky. "Fine!" she huffed with a slight pink blush on her cheeks. "I." she took a step forward. "Love." She took another, so that she stood pretty close to Naruto's frame. "You."

And then she kissed him on the _cheek_.

"One year of time," she said tapping his lips with her finger. "Promise you'll answer me in one year?"

If it was a year…maybe she'd have _curves_ by the time it was over. And if Naruto was just an infatuation, like it had been with Sasuke…one year would be enough to let it be.

If it wasn't…then that was another problem by itself.

What did one do in a serious relationship to begin with?

Naruto just stuttered and stammered, before suddenly sniffing the smell of burnt food. The fried fish was burning! "Gah! The fish!"

And just like that…laughter filled the apartment once more.

**Author's note**

**This 'arc' that comes will be known as the Fluffy Arc.**

**Because there's a Cerberus with Three-Heads at the end.**

**No OC will be used in this arc, and some loose ends will be closed.**

**Or, if you wish to skip…well, tough luck waiting. (Then again knowing my speed in writing…a few weeks?)**

**Have fun, relax and…sip a comfy drink. **_**Everything's going to be fine from now on!**_


	43. The Choices in the Shadows of the Leaf

Introverted

Chapter Forty-Three

Naruto opened his eyes to the feeling of a soft form pressed against his chest. His head was slightly pounding. He knew he shouldn't have gone with the sake option in the end. His throat felt dry and parched as his vision slowly returned in definition, letting him see just who the form over him was.

Sakura was sleeping over him, drooling on his shirt and with her right hand clasped to a small bottle of alcohol; he remembered having bought that bottle a few days prior. There was a moment of silence as he took in the scene of her bedazzled pink hair and her closed eyelids. He knew the alarm clock would start ringing any moment soon, and he'd better be standing up before it happened —because the alarm was in another room to begin with.

Slowly, he pushed Sakura against the side of the bed as he stood up. They had taken to sleeping together during their brief sharing of the apartment —not in _that_ way, of course. It just felt like being on a mission, when you had to huddle closer to your teammate to survive the cold night and it made both Sakura —who probably tied it to the 'burrow' she had rambled about once— and Naruto —who simply liked not feeling alone— happy.

He stumbled in the kitchen to grind the cabbage of the day before in the mixer. It apparently worked as something of a hangover cure…not that he believed much in it, but then again if he was going to risk his life and probably die…better to try everything than die with regrets.

Sakura probably woke up after he left, as she stumbled right behind him to sit at the table's chair with no grace whatsoever.

"Tea?" she grumbled half-heartedly as she crossed her arms on the table's surface and laid her head there with her face down. "Please?"

"Coming," Naruto mumbled. "Do you remember what happened last night?"

"Yeah," Sakura groaned. "You're a happy drunk."

"And you're a sappy one. 'True love' and what-not," Naruto chuckled and winced a second later. He was slowly getting better by the minute however, probably an effect of being an Uzumaki…good to know he could pack more alcohol than other people could. His job with the mixer done, he pushed forth one of the glasses towards Sakura, who took it with her hand and made a disgusted face a moment later.

"If it doesn't work," Sakura moaned, "I'm going to be angry."

They both swallowed the horrifically smelling concoction at the same time, making shuddering expressions of disgust afterwards.

"Had worse," Naruto mumbled before grabbing a glass of water from the tap —and doing the same with Sakura's glass.

"Soldier pills taste horrible," Sakura acquiesced. "I thought worse…thanks," she added then, her hands closing once more on the glass now filled with water.

"Time to prepare and then go," Naruto sighed as he cracked a few eggs on the pan. "You check the eggs?"

"I can do it," Sakura nodded. "How difficult can it be?"

Naruto rolled his eyes with a small smile on his lips, as he headed to his 'office' in the apartment. He firmly closed the scrolls of the Hiraishin, the Rasengan and the Four Symbols sealing, before carefully placing them inside his Chuunin flak jacket. He couldn't trust the village not to send someone to check the apartment, and it was better to have the really important things with him.

Worse case, he would have to dig a hole somewhere and bury his scrolls as fast as he could.

He returned to the kitchen to the sight of scrambled eggs and pickled vegetables. Sakura had already laid the chopsticks out, and with a simple 'Itadakimasu' their last breakfast together began and finished quietly.

"So…" Sakura hesitated, as she fidgeted with the plates. "I'll see you?"

"Farewell?" Naruto tried.

"Goodbye?" Sakura said awkwardly.

"I…" Naruto exhaled. "I don't know how to do this."

Sakura giggled slightly. "Neither do I," she shook her head and stared quizzically at the floor. "Sai would know."

"We didn't even go and watch him leave."

"He wouldn't have wanted that," Sakura muttered. "Well," she slapped both of her cheeks. "I'll take a shower! Then I'll dress up and go."

"I'll tidy around a bit more, take a shower, dress up and go too then," Naruto nodded.

"Good."

"Good," Naruto parroted.

Naruto stepped out of the house last, closing it and holding the keys in his hands. Carefully, he placed them beneath the doormat on the outside and sighed. "Done."

"Hai," Sakura murmured… "I have to be at the East Gate soon…"

"I've got the West Gate," Naruto grimaced. They looked at one another, and they stilled for a brief instant. Sakura was wearing a knee-long pair of shorts of a dark blue colour, with two pouches per side that seemed packed with something. Her Chuunin jacket was open; the dark green and blue shirt with orange stripes she wore seemed to blend with the dark green of the vest. She also had a dark brown bag on her back —extra supplies.

Naruto fidgeted. He was wearing long camouflage pants of a dark brown and light grey colour, and his entire shirt was uniform beige. Even the chuunin vest was the colour of rocks, with spruces of dark green.

Both of their forehead protectors were on their rightful position —right shoulder for Naruto and forehead for Sakura.

"So…" Naruto murmured. "See you soon?"

"Yeah," Sakura replied awkwardly. "Soon."

They waved at one another, and then…

Naruto began to jump as he carefully slipped his way towards the edge of the village and to the gate. Sakura instead…

She took a detour halfway through, carefully jumping down and starting to run through the narrow streets, her throat clenched and with a weight lumped inside. She stopped near a shop called _Root_, deep within the shinobi area of the village. She made her way inside, making an awkward nod to the clerk —an emotionless looking man in his twenties, and then reached for the back. She pushed a loose brick to the side of the notice-board…and then she unhooked from within her Chuunin vest a porcelain mask.

She slipped it on, carefully starting to descend the stairways that led down, to where the secret training areas were of Konoha.

Her sensei had _proposed_ her…

_They_ had _confirmed_ her…

And she had _accepted_.

Therefore, it was that on that cold November morning, Sakura Haruno began her training in Anbu.

"Trainee Tora," she said with a slight crack in her voice as she stood to attention at the end of the stairways, where a giant iron door filled with bars and closed with quite an ensemble of seals was. "Reporting for training duties."

She would become stronger.

She owed it to Naruto.

Sai was trekking alongside the roads of Konoha, his paintbrush calmly stroking on the parchment as he penned a few more words. He narrowed his eyes for a moment when he watched his master —Jiraiya— look around curiously for a moment. The old sannin then began to cackle with glee. "Can you smell it, Sai?"

He sniffed for a moment the air, before replying. "Sulphur?"

"Yes! And where there is Sulphur, my apprentice…"

"There are explosives?" Sai hazarded a guess.

"Yes," Jiraiya nodded calmly. "But also…" here he laughed maniacally. "Hot Springs!"

The Toad Sage grabbed Sai by the shoulders. "Let's go, Sai! Let us peep to our hearts' content!"

A slight chill settled on Sai's bones. He had some sort of feeling it wouldn't end well, if he ever related what his training consisted of… well, it was a stealth training and an information gathering one, but it did possess a sort of penchant for making his own skill better. Master Jiraiya always wanted him to draw a few of the beauties they encountered in the most realistic ways possible, and who was he to say no?

Sure, there were some disturbing noises at night after the old pervert remained alone with a 'real-live' drawing of his…but Sai shuddered again.

Some things…were better left unquestioned.

Naruto reached his private teacher —Yamato who-apparently-has-no-surname— and stood to attention, letting the Jounin watch him with a critical eye.

"Acceptable," Yamato muttered. "We'll be travelling towards Tanzaku Quarters first, South-East of Konoha. We will then patrol around the border with the Land of Rivers first and then Amegakure. We will meet at the old border with Kusagakure with the Protectorate Shinobi team and from there we will move to Tenchi Bridge first, before going through the capital of Kusagakure, then the Hozuki-Jo prison and Kannabi Bridge. If we follow the patrol schedule, in eight months we will cross the old Kusa-Taki border and start patrolling their border. Afterwards depending on time constraints we will return to Konoha no later than the twelfth month. Questions?"

"Travel mode?" Naruto asked.

Yamato made the hint of a smile as he answered.

"High profile is permitted in the land of fire," which meant he could actually buy from shops with the forehead protector showing, "during border patrols a low profile," which meant faking being a civilian, "and in protectorate border-Iwagakure full battle profile." The last one meant pretty much what it entailed 'consider yourself at war and remember that if the enemy sees you he will not hesitate to try and slice your neck peace or not'.

"Resupply spots expected?"

"We have a military cache at the border with Kusa, and there is a medical and equipment cache at Tanzaku Quarters," Yamato remarked with the grin still plastered on his face. "Four caches are spread throughout Kusa and Taki, and we have one hidden within the land of stone —it's a _breach_ and _empty_ however so don't think we'll be using it at all."

"Understood," Naruto nodded firmly. "There are no more questions."

"Good," Yamato gestured for him to follow, and once they were out and running through the tree branches, he unclasped a mask and launched it at Naruto, who caught it quickly.

It was an Anbu mask.

"You will pass off as an Anbu operative, codename…"

Naruto turned the mask around to watch the stylized picture.

"_Baku_."

Naruto frowned. The statue in Danzo's garden was of a tapir-like creature, but the face…it sort of did resemble the mask, didn't it?

"They eat dreams, right?" Naruto asked slowly as he slowly placed the mask over his face.

"And nightmares too," Yamato remarked. "Now keep quiet and adjust to the mask's feeling on your face."

Silence carefully descended on the duo, interrupted only every now and then by the steps they took on the branches, and even then only from Naruto's feet. Yamato's own movement was silent every single step of the way. If it weren't for the fact he was following the Jounin, Naruto had no doubt he wouldn't have ever heard him coming.

He didn't feel regret at the thought of not seeing Konoha for nearly a year. He didn't feel sadness, or anger…he just felt a twinge of sadness at the thought he wouldn't be hearing Sai's 'Dickless' remarks or Sakura's _Shannaro_ which usually followed.

There was just a dull noise in the back of his head. His tongue felt parched and dry, his eyes wavered for just a moment. The feeling of _loss_…it settled on him as it finally dawned that yes, he would not be seeing Sakura, or Sai, or Yugao-sensei or…and that feeling just…_it didn't go away_.

Naruto hadn't cried the first night he had slept out of Konoha —he had no family to return to who would miss him, and he hadn't felt lonely at all: it had actually been the opposite, with him having someone nearby to look after him and hearing them breathe…

It had felt like being in a family and on outdoor camping.

Now this felt different. He wasn't going camping outside, but doing business. The silence was unnerving, the Jounin was someone he didn't actually _know_ completely and they were going somewhere far away from the usual roads they travelled.

"Stop," Yamato ordered after a few hours, as the sun was settling down and the night was lurking around. They were on a thick branch, the sights of Tanzaku town actually already in front of them. "We've reached Tanzaku Quarters."

He jumped down from the tree branch and on the road, before Naruto followed him swiftly. Naruto blinked as he realized Yamato had donned on a mask —one of a cat of all things— while he hadn't watched. "I'm Neko and you're Baku. Understood?"

"Yes Taichou," Naruto dryly replied.

"Good. Create two Kage Bunshin. One to circle the town on the right and one on the left, have one of them take on my appearance and then have them both enter from the other side. They are to disperse in a back-alley afterwards, understood?"

"Yes Taichou," Naruto swallowed as he did the hand-sign. He could feel his chakra drain and leave his body, before coalescing into two bodies just identical to him —albeit one of the two sported a Neko mask. "Done." All three droned at the same time, before two separated and went the direction planned.

They entered through the main road, before stopping at a nearby café.

"Now," Neko spoke as he sat down, "The strategy to eat without removing the mask is simple."

"Apply a Henge?" Naruto asked back, only to receive a slight nod from the other man.

"Precisely. Yugao-san trained you well."

"No," Naruto sighed. "This was…" he bit down on his tongue for a moment, "It was Danzo-sensei's training."

Danzo Shimura…believing the Uchiha…he was responsible for the Kyuubi running rampant in Konoha. Believing them…he was the reason he did not have a mother or a father, and the reason why he was stuck with demons in his guts.

The Hokage hadn't confirmed it yet, and the man…the man was dead to begin with, so there was no need to try and be angry over it. He couldn't get his revenge over the dead after all.

Elsewhere, in the Konoha Hospital, Yui Nitogi slowly scratched her short buzz-cut blond hair backwards, before dressing with the medical nurse outfit of Konoha —a fully white one piece with gloves and cowl, to keep the hair out of the face. She nodded to her colleague in the hallway, before moving to where the 'brat' was.

The 'brat' was the new Genin assigned as an assistant. She too had begun working in the hospital just a few months before, a few days past the end of the Chuunin exams. Then again, there weren't many jobs going on around Konoha for civilians to begin with, and being a woman also made the list shirk. A nurse, a secretary…a cashier or a waitress weren't jobs that easy to find, because mostly…it was housewives.

So what if she hadn't found a man? She wasn't ugly, she knew that! She just didn't have the time with all the shifts she had to do. Her gaze went to the 'brat' and she sighed. Really, the way he held himself was prone to change with time —he always answered too quickly, as if eager to please and learn. She frankly detested that type of ass-kissers. They ended up the assistants of one of the doctors up in the last floors, or got the best jobs ever. Moreover, _really_, his surname was 'Satou'…he had to be an orphan.

The brat with the mismatched eyes was already waiting for her as she arrived on her floor, holding on to his scrolls with whom he took notes and what-not.

"Well then, Neji," she said with a forced happy tone, "Let's begin our rounds, yes?"

He nodded firmly and followed her like some sort of lost puppy —albeit one with a perpetual frown— and it would have been endearing, she supposed, if not for the fact it was getting to her nerves.

"Nitogi-san?" Neji asked carefully, "I read the names of the patients we are visiting…there has to be a mistake."

"Why?" she raised an eyebrow, what was the problem now?

"There's…" he hesitated. "There's, well…someone I know who isn't supposed to be here."

"Maybe they got sick again," she remarked. "What is the _real_ problem?"

"I was cast out of my clan," he muttered. "I shouldn't be in any room alone with a member of my old clan: it's in the rules and…"

"Unless you are a member of the medical corps, in which case you are exempted from such regulation," she remarked dryly. "You are a member of the medical corps?"

"Yes."

"Then there is no problem," she shrugged. "Let's go and do your cousin last kid."

"I'm not a kid," Neji muttered. "Woman."

"Damn proud of it," she smirked. "You look just so adorable when you act like they stuck a stick up your ass," she chuckled as she watched him sputter. "Now enough chit-chat…first patient of the day…mister Hatake, bad case of skin irritation to his hand and groin…"

Neji brought both eyebrows up.

"Apparently made fun of Mitarashi's hand-eye coordination or something like that," she sighed. "That woman is a menace. You'll find out soon that half the cases for day hospital in here are mild and due to her."

Neji said nothing. He swallowed nervously only when he saw the smirking face of the nurse. "Well, nothing to do about it…let's see you examine him."

They entered the 'patient's' room with Neji already turning green…only to find the window open and the patient missing. "Ah, yes," Nitogi exhaled. "Second thing to know brat: patient tend to escape. Being shinobi as they are, they are 'too tough' to waste time for some mild bruises…never mind the fact they could be infected or not. Depending on their rank, feel free to strap them down. Well, next patient then…"

Neji thanked Kami wholeheartedly. There would come a day where he would have to deal with examining a man's groin…

_But it would not be that day!_

Orochimaru calmly looked at the map of the elemental countries, his gaze moving from the land of fire to the land of stone, before moving towards that of lightning and that of wind. He ignored the land of water, since whatever use that dirty ensemble of islands had was already gone. He calmly tapped his fingers on the map for a moment more, before slowly coming to a decision.

He abruptly stood up, his eyes briefly moving erratically on his face. "Indeed," he nodded. "That would work perfectly," he muttered as he snapped his fingers. Hebi crawled back on her feet tiredly —she made a horrible chair— and breathed slowly, she couldn't show pain…it wasn't permitted.

"Now Hebi," the girl trembled. "Let's see if you're smart enough," which meant 'if you aren't, I'll hit you. And if you aren't smarter than yesterday, I'll hit you more'. He carefully grabbed a few chess pieces from a nearby box, and settled them gently on the map.

"This here is Konoha," it dropped the chess piece of a horse on the village. "Each piece is an 'army' worth of shinobi. Konoha has one army, and two more pieces —those are the other two sannin," he placed two more horses on the land of fire, uncaring that they actually weren't the same colour.

"Then, since I'm feeling generous, I give them one more horse even though their Jinchuuriki is a pitiful excuse…to think I actually spared his life once," he shook his head. "He has still to make do with his own promise, but we'll see…we'll see," he muttered to himself. He grabbed the Rooks next. "Now, we've got us: the superior army. We've got a nice and big city, which is worth two armies —because it's the city and myself. We've got the Reibi, which is another army. We have Otogakure's proud shinobi, and that's yet one more army! So you see, we're already equal right?"

Hebi nodded slowly. She was rewarded with a knee to the stomach that sent her on the ground barfing. "Wrong!" Orochimaru snarled. "Come on Anko, you can't be that stupid! Do you want to go back to cleaning the poisoned Kunai?"

She trembled and shook her head fiercely. "No, Orochimaru-sama…please…I'll do better."

"Very well," Orochimaru nodded. "And now we have a problem here…we are cooperating with Akatsuki, and we wear their cloaks…but we aren't sharing their objectives. I mean, _really_? Create a super weapon that will force the shinobi world through pain to stop wars is _stupid_." Orochimaru snorted. "My mean is far better." He nodded to himself. "Complete extermination," he smiled to himself. "Except for a selected few of course," he chuckled. "And then we will start a new order afterwards, smart plan, isn't it?"

Hebi swallowed as she nodded hastily. "Good!" he patted her on the head. "You see that you're smart when you want to be? Now, how can we get complete annihilation? First of all, we need to move Konoha's armies somewhere…like patrolling protectorate states," he carefully moved two horses towards Kusa and Taki. "And then make sure one more is busy with a non-existing trouble…" he moved the third one towards Kiri.

"Finally, when all is said and done, we make sure some other countries," here he dropped a few pawns on Kumo, Suna and Iwa. "Are willing to partake in trade and _then_," he dropped a pawn in Demon Country. "We ensure an attack happens from someplace unexpected," Orochimaru murmured. "But that alone would not be enough. It would end with only Konoha destroyed and only the land of Fire ravaged…it's not good! Not good at all! Which is why we're letting the Kages meet in the land of Iron," Orochimaru smiled.

"And you know what will happen while they're talking about taking us down together?" as he asked that, Hebi took a deep breath. She had no idea, but maybe she could fake it well enough?

"Ah…they…will fight one another?"

"How?"

"By…by making something look like the fault of someone else?" she closed her eyes and brought her arms up in fear for a hit. No hit came, and so she lowered her arms.

"Exactly," Orochimaru smirked. "I'll be going to Sunagakure…no, we'll be going," he corrected himself. "And I will replace their Kazekage," he laughed lightly. "I just know he's _dying_ from the desire to meet me again," the snake Sannin hummed a little tune. "And then I will go to the meeting in his place. I'll make a mess to make sure Orochimaru appears the culprit," he sing-sung, "And then I'll reveal just what good old Iwagakure asked of the Land of Demons…and for _what_ purpose…that should be enough to enrage the land of lightning," his eyes grew cold. "And then I will personally take Hanzaki's head for being an inferior cowardly being who dared betrayed my superior self," he laughed aloud. "Isn't that pure genius, my little Anko?" he grabbed the girl by the sides and lifted her up, laughing as he made her spin.

"They'll kill each other over truths best kept hidden! And then, when the dust will settle…they will realize all too late of Akatsuki's army who would then wipe them all out…" here Orochimaru frowned.

"But then…how do we wipe out Akatsuki's army then?"

He held Hebi close as if he was consoling a crying baby, going as far as patting her on the back. She was outright _scared_ —especially because every now and then, the Sannin would _sniff_ her hair or _lick_ her sweat off her temple.

"We make them…reveal themselves early?"

"Good enough," Orochimaru sighed. "Not perfect, but it's good enough I suppose for a first try," he dropped her on the ground without a second glance. She barely managed to fall on her hands, that she felt a sharp pain stab her on the sides of her ribs, sending her to fly in the air as blood pooled in her mouth. She crashed against the side of the wall in agony, her eyes half closed from the nerve-wracking ache.

"When I ask you a question, Hebi, I want a complete answer. Understood?" he hissed.

"Y-Yes Orochimaru-sama," she coughed out as blood splattered on the ground.

"Urgh, that's my favourite floor," Orochimaru rolled his eyes. "Anyway, you forgot to count in the land of Claws and the land of Fangs, which is bad, especially if you want to become a smart thinker like me." The snake sage shook his head. "Horrible, really."

"Orochim…aru-sama?"

"Now, no need to be that pitiful: I just cracked a few of your ribs. Nothing you can't survive. Remember: pain is a temporary state of flesh. Ignore it and it will be as if it never existed in the first place," Orochimaru spoke calmly, before turning to leave. "You would do better to move and follow me, Hebi. I hate people who can't follow."

And Hebi gritted her teeth as she slowly stood, holding on to her sides that pained her terribly. She took a step forward, before seeing dots of black in her vision, and stumbling down on one knee again. "Please…Orochimaru-sama…"

Orochimaru sighed. "You'll go without dinner then," and then the sannin left.

He left her there, to fall on the ground and faint from the pain. He left her there…probably…to…die…like a discarded toy…that had broken…

She…she felt…so….

_Tired_.

Tanzaku Quarters had quite a selection of places to rest for shinobi. Naruto realized that as he slowly came to term with the fact that being an Anbu —or faking being one— came with quite a bit of a discount on nearly _everything_. He hadn't brought much money with him, but apparently that was something every Anbu did. Rather, they had a direct check-link with Konoha's bank, and the bank itself paid the expenses of the shinobi staying outside the village —of Jounin rank and above only, of course.

The costs incurred reduced the pay, unless they directly related to completing the mission faster —in which case, the village itself paid for said expenses.

In this case, the pay for the long-term patrol mission was from the eighty-thousand ryos —if they took only eight months— to the one hundred and twenty ryos and above —depending if it lasted one year, if there were hostile encounters or if something else happened that placed the shinobi at risk.

Long-term patrols were B-ranks by themselves, while short-range or short-term patrols were C-ranks.

The inn they spent the night in had a hot spring, and a few of the _masseuses_ were watching them with the sort of sultry look you can expect from a cat about to devour a fish. Shinobi probably made up a good chunk of their earnings after all…

Naruto exhaled in relief as he slowly slid in the water of the hot spring. He had a kunai hidden within his bath towel, just as he was sure the Jounin that was guiding him had too. They both wore the Anbu mask —they even let them enter the springs with those on— and held a sort-of quiet and serious air as they looked at one another.

"I enjoy eating walnuts," he said then.

Naruto's eyes widened when he heard the Jounin say those words, because it absolutely made no sense at all with the mood. Well, considering he was wearing a mask and a bath towel in a hot spring, and judging by how serious the travel time had been…

"I like…ramen?" Naruto said with a nervous chuckle.

"I dislike oily foods, they just…taste wrong."

"I'm sure it's a matter of the oil used by the cook," Naruto replied. "Although…sometimes it happens they overuse the oil."

There was another minute of uncomfortable silence.

"My hobby is architecture."

Naruto blinked and hesitated for a moment.

"I like gardening," he softly said.

"Oh?"

"Plants don't judge," Naruto shrugged. "Is this downtime talk?"

"Indeed. Bonds of trust are crucial to the inner works of any Anbu operative team," Yamato remarked. "Normally, you would be training within Konoha, but since it is crucial you are kept on the move as much as possible, I was assigned as your personal instructor."

"Why?"

"Imagine a powerful explosive tag. If you know where it is, you can start to plan how to disarm it, how to avoid it…but if you don't know where it is going, the difficulty to plan a proper counterattack increases."

"Wouldn't it be better to hold me in Konoha however?" Naruto replied. "I mean, if we're…you know, then why shouldn't I be kept in Konoha?"

"Because the enemy possesses a long-range kunai with an explosive tag attached to it so powerful, it can pretty much wipe out the village."

Naruto swallowed heavily. "And why doesn't he use it, then?"

"Because a field of grain is worth more than one of ashes," Yamato answered. "That's obvious."

"Isn't he a madman? Should he actually be thinking that far?"

Yamato exhaled slowly. "Orochimaru…of the Sannin, I suppose nobody fully told you his exploits, isn't that right?"

Naruto said nothing, but simply nodded.

"Imagine graduating at six years from the academy, to be thrust in the war. Imagine having the Kami of Shinobi, the Sandaime, as your teacher. That alone would make you a good shinobi, an excellent one…that would make you a Sannin like he later became, but it wouldn't be enough to make you such a feared person." Yamato sighed. "The difference between him and, let's say, the Godaime…the difference between him and the Yondaime, or him and any other S-rank shinobi is that he _incarnates_ the _truth_ of the _shinobi_ _world_. He has done things so terrible in his time both as a Jounin and as an Anbu, but especially…he is one of the main reason peace was kept in the shinobi lands for so long."

"_What_?"

"That's above your rank, Baku," Yamato replied. "Just know that if Orochimaru had not turned mad, he would have probably been the Yondaime Hokage…but the Sandaime feared him, because he feared the truth of the nindo. The snake Sannin had no trouble killing his heart for the benefit of the village. He had no trouble killing his emotions for his own benefit. He was so good at that…that he simply decided to let his heart rot one day, and stopped caring about bringing it back. Everything he did, everything he ever did…he will tell you he did for Konoha. And the problem…" Yamato brought both of his arms to cross over his chest. "The problem is that he would not be lying on that."

"Did you meet him in person?" Naruto suddenly asked, curiosity taking the better of him.

"Yes," Yamato stiffly answered. "I was with my Genin team, on my first C-rank out of the village. _He killed all of them in front of me, and told me I was too weak to ever be more than a failure_," his voice was filled with disdain as he spoke. Yamato growled as he clenched his right hand into a fist. "But enough of this, what about you? I read your information scroll…the stunt you pulled in the hospital would have landed any other shinobi on the death row, but the fact you actually managed to quick-think your way through…how did you even escape the Anbu?"

"I'm good at running from Anbu," Naruto mumbled. "I did that all the time when I was young."

"No," Yamato shook his head. "The Anbu simply stopped following you —an Anbu has better things to do then follow a boy through Konoha. Sure, they could have caught you immediately, but letting you run was probably a way to tire you out and make it easier for the rest to go about their daily business."

Naruto grumbled something unintelligible and lowered half of his face in the water together with the mask.

"How did you escape?" Yamato pressed forth once more.

"Summoning Technique," Naruto finally muttered.

"Jiraiya-sama taught you that? I see," Yamato nodded. "It is a common mean to escape enemies for those lucky enough to have been accepted as contract holders…the animals can summon their summoner back after all. It's toads, right?"

"Yeah," Naruto grabbed on to the lie quickly. "Them."

"That's good to know," Yamato said. "Are there any other skills I should know of?"

Naruto closed his eyes as he thought about it. What else could he do? He couldn't actually summon toads, but if he tried and was lucky enough…maybe he'd have the same affinity as them?

Or what if…what if he ended up with the same summons as Danzo-sensei?

Or maybe something else…but what was there if not toads? Maybe…what if he had _dragons_ as summons!? The thought actually made Naruto stop for a moment to breathe and calm down. There was no way dragons _existed_, who was he kidding? He just hoped he didn't end up with slugs or —kami forbid— snakes.

Still, the problem was worse than that. What if the man asked him to demonstrate?

Naruto would have no choice…he'd have to, and then the man would know he was lying. What was worse was the fact that then he'd ask why, and the answer would be that he was covering for the two Uchiha…both probably Missing-nins.

He would have kicked himself, but as it was, he was already in hot waters…

No pun intended, considering he actually _was_ in the hot springs.

"Now, while we are in the springs," Yamato said suddenly, interrupting Naruto's train of thoughts. "We will train with the water release. Have you managed to change your chakra to water?"

Naruto swallowed nervously. "I'm afraid not," he shook his head. "It just…it's easier for me to grind the chakra in my body than…let it 'drip' or whatever."

Yamato nodded. "There is nothing to worry about. It's normal and it normally takes years. We will be using Kage Bunshin for it after all. Create three of your copies."

It was then that Naruto mentally kicked himself in the head.

Of course! He didn't have to go by himself to get his summons…

He could send his Kage Bunshin!

They would then dispel and there would be nothing to worry about, especially because they couldn't bleed —so they couldn't sign contracts— and if it turned out he had a contract with something different than the Toads, then he simply wouldn't sign it and wait for the Toad Sage to come around again.

Yes! He could do that!

He grinned to himself as he created the Kage Bunshin required by his sensei. Instead of creating three however, he made five. "Ops," he muttered. "I still have to get the hang of making fewer of them."

Yamato raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. "Never mind, send those two outside to guard us while we train."

Naruto sheepishly nodded, letting the two clones leave.

The next instant, he was rewarded with a satisfying pop as the two clones disappeared. He supposed everything would be fine.

What was the worst that could happen?

Naruto Uzumaki, clone number four, was perplexed. He knew perfectly well he was nothing more than a mass of chakra coalesced together by hand signs, and he knew he wasn't supposed to feel much more or last more than a few minutes —or hours, depending on the training method— but he still could do nothing but stare with shock at what stood in front of him.

He was staring at an overweight Tapir covered in gold.

The thing had golden rings over his long prehensile nose, and tiger-like limbs. He looked as if someone had thought it funny to mix a broad-chinned animal to a strange furred body. Naruto had thus no words to describe the thing.

It did sort-of resemble the statue in the garden of Danzo-sensei.

He swallowed nervously as he watched the thing's giant prehensile nose come down to sniff at him, before make a face of disgust.

"I admire your cautiousness," the 'thing' remarked. "And I approve of your mask…a Baku, is it not?" the creature smiled showing a pointed set of teeth.

_The creature that looked eerily like his mask_.

"We do not have a summoner," the Baku spoke next. "He died, apparently," the thing spoke. "His dreams did not reach us…do you have dreams, would-be-summoner?"

"I…"

_I want to be Hokage! _A tiny voice squeaked next to him. He spun around with his eyes wide; he watched his younger-self smile and puff his chest out. He remembered that moment: the Chuunin-sensei had asked them their dreams, and he had answered without thinking twice.

"Dreams of childhood," the Baku spoke fondly. "They can never be forged stronger than that. The children's dreams…they are the most precious and delicious to eat on," the scenery changed around Naruto, to show the dark apartment he had held once, and a figure clad in darkness walking in, kunai in hand. "Just like their nightmares…"

There was a flash of light, and the figure clutching the kunai appeared to Naruto, who held his breath in his throat. Orochimaru of the Sannin was looking at him with a bored look, twirling the kunai in his hand and with his golden eyes spiralling like those of a snake.

The child Naruto screamed something unintelligible, soon followed by laughter from the other sannin. There was a bit of speaking he didn't catch…and then the Sannin was gone.

"W-What is that?" Naruto murmured.

"Your nightmare," the Baku commented. "If you wish of us as your summons, you must agree to three things." The creature slowly stood up from its throne made of bones —hadn't it been gold a moment earlier?

"First, you will give onto me your childhood dreams." The creature took a step forward. "Then your childhood nightmares," he stopped straight in front of Naruto, the prehensile nose hovering above the boy's head. The creature was humongous: it easily rivalled a building four floors high! "And finally, you will _understand_ that to call me forth, the _chief_ of the Baku, of the eaters of dreams and nightmares…you will sacrifice your dreams, your nightmares…all of them, to me."

Naruto swallowed…and then _he nodded_.

"Very well," the ruler of the Baku said. "My name is _Akumu_, my daughters are _Neru_ and _Yume_, and my sons are _Makura_ and _Kaba_." He slowly brought a scroll from the pile of gold that he used as a throne —weren't those bones a moment before— and he dropped it open in front of him. Written above the empty space was Danzo Shimura's name, and beneath it a dotted line was the spot reserved for the new summoner.

"Write your name in blood," the Baku muttered, pushing the scroll onto him. "Once you have done so, summon one of my children to bring the scroll back. Now go, and return to your original."

The clone of Naruto blinked as he felt the prehensile nose of the Baku descend on him. He felt a strange tugging as his body seemingly felt snapped in half, before he reappeared outside the hot springs' room. He held on to the summoning scroll as he left the establishment quickly —as a Kage Bunshin 'clothes' could be conjured with chakra after all. He'd wait for the original to pop out and deliver the scroll to him afterwards. There was no hurry, he supposed.

He didn't even feel strange. Had the Baku really eaten his dreams and his nightmares? He frowned and shrugged. His dream had always been to protect his teammates. What was wrong with that?

He sat down on a nearby rooftop, and stood in wait.

It was then that he frowned and realized something: he was missing the _other_ clone.

The other clone of Naruto Uzumaki, number Five, wasn't perplexed. He was scared shitless.

He stood surrounded by giant eyes and pointy beaks, as feathers floated in the air all around him. "He looks too broody for us Cranes," a pink coloured bird said with a huffing noise. "I'll pass on him."

"I don't think he likes fish," a Pelican said then. "He doesn't seem like a hearty eater."

"Does he like to lay eggs?" a chicken asked, turning her head around while doing the 'coccodé' sound. "Uh? No, he doesn't look like he likes to like to like to like…lay eggs," there was a squawk and a ruffle of feathers as an egg popped out of _the giant chicken's_ rear.

"I have a deal with the Uchiha clan," an old Crow with a scar over his right eye commented. He had a straw hat to cover half of his head, and held a rusty Tanto to his side. "He is from Konoha, but I have a deal and we crows honour our deals."

There were a few indignant squawks all around for a bit more, before someone hazarded. "What about asking the bats?"

"Those things aren't birds, you Goose," the Crow muttered back at a giant Goose.

"He doesn't seem like he likes to sing!" a songbird thrilled.

"Maybe he likes to swim?" a duck quacked flapping her wings. "Eh?"

Naruto shook his head quickly.

"Too unrefined," a Swan exhaled. "And let's face it…" the giant white bird turned its long and lithe neck around. "We're missing someone."

"Uhm…" a Peacock looked around for a moment. "Indeed…ah!" as a gust of air scared the animal, it opened its giant back-fan of green feathers with blue eye-like drawings sending a veritable hurricane of air and feathers to scatter around, forcing clone number five to bring his arms up to cover his face.

"So, this guy is it?" a Woodpecker said excitedly, flying around quickly and looking at each other. "Nobody wants him right, right? So I can have him, yes? Yes?"

"Ahem," there was a polite cough from a corner of the wide open space the birds were discussing in. "I have yet to stake my claim," a figure wobbled down from its perch, slowly walking forward and letting its neck rise above the others. The rest of the birds shirked slightly backwards. The Vulture looked down at Naruto and raised an eyebrow. His jet-black feathers looked like polished alabaster, and their white tips showed signs of his old age. He had a curved beak, and his dark eyes seemed to be analysing every single bit of flesh Naruto had on his body.

"I will take him," the Vulture nodded.

"You know you can't eat him, right?" the Crow said carefully.

"Of course I don't want to eat him," the Vulture scoffed back. "I wouldn't even if I wanted to: it's a Kage Bunshin." The Vulture shook his head. "Youngsters these days…they can't even recognize a Bunshin when they see one."

The Vulture slowly looked at Naruto's eyes once more. "You have tasted the flesh of your kind…have you not?" the beak curved into a smile. "You gorged upon their flesh, and snapped their entrails from their bodies."

Naruto swallowed, and then grimly nodded.

"You are thus perfect!" the Vulture flapped its wings. "Wonderful circumstances…marvellous randomness…he is now ours, of the Vulture Clan!"

The rest of the birds in the flock made a few more steps backwards.

A few even whispered among themselves 'are we sure he isn't going to eat him?' 'Let's hope so'.

"Carry this scroll back to your true self, to he who gorges on the flesh of the dead," the Vulture clicked its tongue against his beak. "Tell him that the Carrion Eaters shall answer his call in exchange for the flesh of the deceased! We shall feast upon the rotten bodies that cover the Earth together, and banquet upon their putrescent corpses!" the Vulture's wings opened wide.

"My name is _Hagewashi_! Remember it, for upon my black wings you will call to complete the deal with us!"

There was a gust of wind as the Vulture flung a scroll covered in black feathers towards the clone, which caught it by reflex as a tornado of black plumes covered him. When his sight returned...he stared at the surprised Clone number four…who was holding a scroll too.

"Now how do we explain this to the boss?" they both said at the same time grimacing.

Then, they had an idea.

They both created a clone. The clones looked at one another with a knowing look, and then destroyed the two older clones. The knowledge of what happened…

It forced Naruto, who had been trying to get the water release to work, to suddenly still as the knowledge and thoughts conflicted one against the other, bringing him to fall backwards and slip as his other clones dispelled all together. His body twitched and he convulsed as Yamato brought him out of the hot springs and lowered him on the stone floor.

Naruto coughed and barfed as he closed his eyes and exhaled a heavy breath.

The next moment…

_He laughed_.

**Author's notes**

**Canon Sasuke has two summons. (Can't be summoned at the same time)**

**I was actually undecided between Danzo-route and New-Route. I saw a pic with 'Why not both!?' and thus here we go.**

**The Vultures appeal to his 'eating the flesh' and the Dream-Eaters to his 'inner loss of innocence'. Even though he is now fourteen years old (we are way past October) the difference will be more remarked as the time passes.**

**This is a sort of 'metaphor' I enjoyed writing. Naruto growing and losing his childhood.**

**Orochimaru is batshit insane, but we know that already.**

**We will concentrate on Naruto alone now for a few chapters more —it will sort-of, be a timeskip, since many months will pass by with a single chapter. And for those who asked about the Nibi. The Nibi comes from the idea of two-tailed cats.**

**Read what Two-Tailed Cats could do…and **_**shudder**_**.**


	44. The Wicked Truth Behind the Mask

**This Chapter is Extremely Dark. Beware.**

Introverted

Chapter Forty-Four

Yamato did not know what to make of the young Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. One moment, his gaze was serious and his façade perfect. The next, he cracked down and laughed. He didn't like mysteries: he was Anbu, his purpose was to complete the mission assigned to him and nothing more. The way the boy had excused himself and gone to bed had made him wary, but then again it wasn't as if he hadn't left a Bunshin to check on the brat.

The Mokuton Bunshin outside the door remained quietly hidden in the shadows, as it watched one of the masseuses from below come up —he hadn't thought the kid would be hormonal enough to buy a prostitute. Then again, the boy was a Jinchuuriki...he probably had grown out faster than his peers had. The woman giggled all the way upstairs, before entering the room and closing it behind her.

He was an Anbu rank Jounin of Konoha, and thus there was no way Yamato could feel embarrassment at hearing the boy or the woman engage in sexual acts. He did place earplugs when he heard them moan though —because he really didn't want to have a _woody_ on his wood bunshin.

Once the prostitute was done, he quietly remained there for a moment more —just the time to hear the boy's soft snoring, before sighing. He had been a _quick_ sport…thankfully.

The prostitute smiled as she reached the floor below, letting the henge slowly disperse. The Kage Bunshin held in its hands a inkpot filled with blood —more than enough to write down his name on the scrolls. He didn't know if there was a law against signing one of them, but the Baku had already taken their payment…so there was no use in dilly dallying around them.

The Kage Bunshin reached the rooftop where he had hidden the two scrolls, and slowly unclasped them both. He wrote down his name with his blood, before dipping his finger in the inkpot and using his chakra to summon the first one, 'Yume' —carefully hiding the other scroll.

A small Tapir-like Baku appeared —her size no larger than a cat. Her fur had streaks of blue and purple, and she seemed to nozzle affectionately the scroll. "Well, you go back to your father now, right?" the Baku made a 'muh' sound as it disappeared, a sort of mixture between a meow and a small strange verse.

Sighing in relief, he repeated the process with the second.

Hagewashi appeared with its wings wide open, letting his dark pitch-black feathers spread around them as if to create a sort of shower of darkness. Its long beak stood in a curve that probably was a smile for the avian, as it slowly draped one of its long wings across Naruto's shoulder.

"Smarter than you look, stronger than you look, your skills will benefit us, we know," the Vulture nodded. "We are the Vultures, the Hawks, the Eagles…We are the Condors and the Carrion Crows. We feast upon our kin and our enemies, _for in death all are equal food to us_. Our young will feast on the flesh of our dead, and the weak shall become the strength of the strong."

The Vulture laughed dryly, as it rasped and coughed halfway through his laughter in the midst of the night. "Let us fly tonight, youngling," he brought down his wing in front of him. "And then reveal the freedom of wings to your original self."

Naruto wasn't feeling guilty about having called upstairs a masseuse from the floor below —she had actually been a decent sort, and had agreed to play a 'prank' on his 'Colleague'. Since the money would be syphoned out of his mission pay, there really wasn't much of a problem. He actually felt smug about how he had planned to let her leave…

A few hours later, which had passed playing a few card games with the Geisha in question in silence and his 'clone' returned Henged as the masseuse once more. He cheerfully nodded to the Geisha who smiled coyly before ruffling her Kimono and leaving a quarter of hour later. His clone dispelled a moment after, and as Naruto fell with his back on the ground…he sported a sort-of lazy and ecstatic smirk on his face that bordered the smugness.

_Flying was awesome._

The next morning, Yamato kept eying him through his mask with a sort-of knowing look, and…a bit of pride? "Well," the Jounin spoke as he stood atop a rooftop. "What you lack in endurance you make up with multiple shots…right?"

"Eh?"

"Yes," Yamato nodded calmly. "It never happened," he finally mumbled. "Please refrain from doing this every night."

"U-Understood," Naruto nodded. He inwardly thanked the Anbu mask —without his face showing there was no way the man could detect him hiding something.

"Now, we will spend one month in Tanzaku Quarters and their surroundings scouting for possible troubles. Using your Kage Bunshin, have two of them move through the crowd henged to appear civilians. We will take care of patrolling the outskirts in a star-like pattern. Just follow my lead for the first few days, and then I can begin showing you the tricks for identifying potential spies."

Naruto cocked his head to the side for a moment, before shrugging. It sounded boring, but then again…patrols were supposed to be boring, weren't they?

The month spent circling Tanzaku Quarters was one of the most boring months ever to be done, with nothing short of a few scuffles between drunkards at night to spice it up. In the end, Naruto was actually glad when they moved to their next objective: the border with the land of Rivers and the contested gold mine territory.

There was a feeling of _dread_ soaking through Naruto's bones as they reached the Katabami Kinzan area, where a village of the nearly and same-named gold mine was. They were just at the border with the land of Fire, but the land of Rivers had control over the Gold Mine due to some old treaty. The thick silence that descended as they carefully prowled in the night towards the village made Naruto's throat parched.

His sensei wasn't saying a word more than was needed. Naruto remained silent as he softened as much as he could his steps on the dry ground. He could smell the fumes of burning coal in the air —the smelters were still working— and the light sprinkles of coal dust that covered nearly every building made Naruto wince. He could hear the grumbling noises of the workers either returning from work or entering their houses, covered in soot and sweaty.

He could smell them from a mile away. All that it would take would be a simple fire, and everything would go up in flames. Yamato-Taichou slowly crawled past the village, as the night kept on creeping over them, shrouding them in the darkness. Silently, he gestured for him to…

Break and enter a house?

Naruto swallowed and stood to the side of the window of the wooden construction in question. He saw a normal-looking family of three eating their dinner while making their normal banter. The husband was a thick and muscle-filled miner who had just returned, while covered in dust. The wife was a plump woman, not beautiful or anything like that. The boy…the boy was barely five years old.

There was nothing of interest next to the house, except for a large pit used to drop the organic waste. Naruto looked back at his Taichou, who pointed at the family and made the same unmistakeable gesture once more. The Land of Rivers wasn't an 'Ally' of Konoha, but neither were they enemies. This house was the last one of the village. There was no reason to kill them, none that he could think of.

He grabbed his Yoroi Tanto and nervously looked once more at them. He could hear his heartbeat in his chest and he knew he had to do as his sensei asked. He clenched the Tanto firmly. He palmed a kunai with his other hand. Carefully, with the use of wind chakra, he sliced the window's frame quietly. Then, as fast as he could, he jumped in.

The kunai flew to the throat of the man, while his Yoroi Tanto pushed deeply into the woman's spine as Naruto spun in mid-air to land a kick to the child's temple. With a sickening crunch of broken bones, the child fell on the ground as the woman collapsed with her eyes wide in horror and her mouth oozing saliva and blood. The man gurgled trying to hold on to the kunai that had struck him in the neck.

Naruto slowly let his emotions die as he jumped forward and landed a swipe of the Tanto at the man's neck, decapitating him deftly. Behind him, he saw Yamato enter and use Mokuton to reclose the window frame before pulling the dingy dust-soaked curtains to cover them from the outside.

The smell of blood in the room was sickening.

"Baku," Yamato muttered. "You could have done better," he said without a single inflexion of emotion in his voice. "Breaking and entering is important for Anbu: fighting in close quarters within houses even more."

Naruto didn't trust his voice to not be cracked. He just numbly nodded as he watched his Taichou bring all the corpses 'boringly' in a corner, before using the Mokuton to hide them beneath the ground.

"We have all the night to make you better," Yamato remarked. "First of all," he slowly unhooked a thin metallic wire, "Normal windows are closed with hooks, which can easily be pulled up from the outside with a thin wire. If that fails, you can quietly tap the window and when someone goes to look and opens it, you can pierce their head from the outside and then enter. If even that fails, normally it is better to slice only on one side of the window frame, to take out the hinges. Breaking glass is the worst possible solution —unless you are literally on a time constraint, in which case any method applies."

Naruto's eyes were still fixed on the spot where the glazed over eyes of the kid of barely five was buried. That pale face and open eyes…he hadn't even had the time to scream. He was trembling, slightly. This…this was different from killing an enemy shinobi. Slaughtering civilians wasn't something he believed Konoha would ever do. Then again, the slander of Iwagakure depicted their shinobi as beasts armed with nothing more but a desire to harm others, going as far as gutting children and leaving the villages across the borders to…

Naruto's eyes widened briefly.

"We're pinning the blame on Iwa for this, right?" he whispered as his breath stilled in his throat.

"And moving in to protect the town," Yamato remarked. "And making sure the country of rivers isn't allied with Orochimaru, and many more nuances that you are not of appropriate rank to know."

Naruto shook his head slowly. "We're no better than murderers if we do this."

"We are Anbu," Yamato hissed as he grabbed Naruto by the shoulders. "We serve the Hokage and Konoha. Our lives are forfeit for them. We act in the shadows. We do unspeakable things for our village. Never forget that, Baku. Now, proceed on to the next house. Do not start fires. Do not let anyone escape."

Naruto shook his head. "I…I can't," he croaked. "You can't ask me to…the kids…"

"I am not asking you, Baku," the man's voice was harsh. "I am ordering you. This is an A-rank mission: multiple assassinations. Do you really think patrols are only made of 'boring' stuff?"

Naruto swallowed. "T-Then…"

"Half of the patrols are short-range only, for the Chuunin to get the hang of the outside. Long-range or long-term patrols are generally code for Anbu operatives executing their missions."

Bile rose to Naruto's throat.

"S-Sakura…"

"I do not know of such a name in Anbu," Yamato quipped. "If she was assigned a mask, and if she was sent on a long range mission, then it is probable her loyalty to Konoha will be verified in the same way."

"It's always about loyalty, isn't it?" Naruto murmured. "Prove yourself loyal, and you get money and techniques. Prove that you value the village, and your life will be better."

"Yes," Yamato answered bluntly. "No sacrifices should be done without a prize at the end."

"So it's about money…no," Naruto shook his head. "It's about something more than money…there are no excuses for this…these actions…I can't believe the village would…"

"We are not the only one who does," Yamato replied. "If you think Konoha different than the rest, or the other villages different from Konoha…then you are wrong."

"The malice deeply rooted within the leaf," Naruto whispered. "I see…I think I understand it better."

"Uh?"

"Nothing," he shook his head. He clenched both of his fists tightly. "I'll do it." He exhaled. He felt his shoulders heavy and his heart constrict, as if he had just signed a deal with the devil. "I just have to kill my heart, right?"

Yamato cocked his head to the side. "Indeed. Consider your opponents as mere objectives, targets…think of them as cattle if you prefer. They are not human. They have no worth. They are people you despise and hate. I know of someone who thought of his assassination targets as watermelons. Think something funny or bizarre and it will help you repress your feelings."

"So this is a test of loyalty," Naruto chuckled grimly. "I get it…the entire village?"

"Down to the last children," Yamato nodded.

The Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi closed his eyes, his breathing slowing as he calmed his heart. They were targets. He was a shinobi. This was his duty. This was for the benefit of Konoha. This was for the village. This was for his teammates. This was for himself last. This…he tightened the hold on the kunai and the Tanto. He slowly crouched in the shadows and left from the window.

Yamato nodded to himself in approval, before disappearing to observe from a better position the boy's actions. He watched him quietly enter a house, he barely heard the sound of scuffling ensue before silence reigned and the fire turned off. Light after light, the houses of the miners near the gold mine died. Quietly and silently, with the gentle breeze of the night picking up after a few moments, Yamato watched with cold and uncaring eyes Naruto move and execute the villagers.

The boy was a natural, or maybe his training had made him such a prodigy? Normally, Anbu were chosen from battle hardened Chuunin, and generally their first mission always involved something shady, on the dark grey scale of morality for the village. If an Anbu could _assassinate_ the child of a minor lord of the capital of the land of fire, then he could easily plant explosive near a civilian village of the land of stone and create a landslide.

It was as the last light of the last house made of wood and clay died out that Yamato slowly jumped down from his observation post to watch how Naruto had taken to the mission.

The boy was cradling a new born with both of his arms, tears streaking down his chin as his mask hid his crying eyes. He shook his head, and then grabbed the kunai from his pouch and slowly lowered the bundle on the ground. The child wept, the single noise echoing through the now eerily silent village. It was the cry of an innocent infant, born barely a few months before.

His cries joined with the sobs of Naruto, as the Chuunin of Konohagakure no Sato lowered his kunai as fast as he could.

The cry died out immediately, snuffed out.

Naruto left the last house wobbling on his feet, holding his hand against the wall as he slowly slid his back against the wooden house and fell down on the coal-dust filled settlement's road. "It's done," he croaked out, his _Yoroi Toshi_ Tanto crimson with blood.

The boy bitterly laughed as he recalled the words of Shimura Danzo, months before…or maybe even years? It felt so distant, so far away then…

"_The handle was dark blue when I first wielded it. It became dark purple from the blood of Konoha's enemies that dripped onto it."_

Naruto wondered as he looked at the sword dribbling blood from the blade to his hand, how much blood had belonged to the enemies of Konoha…and how much to the innocents caught in between the fights of the villages?

Was there even an excuse for killing children? Was there a reason to slice the throats of a newly born baby? Naruto couldn't find one. He couldn't find a single defining reason for it…but he had done it all the same.

He eyed his Taichou start going through hand-seals, before slamming both of his hands on the ground and creating a ripple on the rocks. Spikes erupted, tearing apart the buildings made of wood and letting them crash down one after the other —while leaving the smelter area relatively safe. He used more Earth techniques then, as meticulously and without a moment of hesitation, the Anbu mercilessly tore with Doton Jutsu the corpses and their surroundings.

Naruto slowly stood back up, grabbing the small slip of cloth that he used to clean his Yoroi Tanto, and then he proceeded to do just that, in silence.

The blood would never wash away, would it?

Suddenly, Yamato tensed.

"Baku, hide!" with a quick decision, Naruto did just that —he hid behind a jagged rocky edge that hadn't been in the village before, but had been created by Yamato's technique.

A group of figures stalked down from the cobblestone road slightly above the village, cloaks floating behind their backs as they had strange metal claws on their hands. They weren't sporting forehead protectors, but they were quite an organized group of five.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, as he smelled their scents coming from the wind. There was some sort of spicy aftertaste…had they been eating _curry_?

"What the hell happened here!?" one of the group exclaimed. "Man what a mess! Was it an avalanche or something like that?"

"I don't think avalanches are supposed to make spikes," another of the group remarked. "It looks like some sort of crazy ninja stuff."

"Shit, you think there are any survivors around here?"

"Man, should we look for some gold?"

"I…Guys, are we sure we should be staying here?" the bandit that strongly smelled of curry asked warily. "I don't like this."

"You know the boss wanted someone to bury, Karashi! We can't go back empty-handed…"

"Yeah, maybe he can make do with one of the miners who overworked," one of the brigands remarked. "Think he'll accept that?"

"Sure he will…you know how the boss is," another muttered. There was a general nod from the group, and as quickly as they had arrived, they left. Naruto remained down, crouched and hidden by the shadows for a moment more, before he felt Yamato's presence near him.

"Now," the masked Anbu muttered. "This is the second part of the deal."

"Taichou?"

"Need-To-Know basis, Baku," the Taichou remarked. "You have proven your loyalty in the first part of the mission, and now it is time for the second part."

He nodded grimly. "Yes, Taichou."

"We have received communication that Raiga Kurosuki, an Anbu missing-nin from Kirigakure, has delved into this area harassing the population. He has escaped Kiri wielding the Kiba, the twin swords of lightning. We are to recover the swords, blame the massacre on him or Iwagakure shinobi, and eliminate all members of the Kurosuki family."

Yamato then looked in the direction the group of five had gone. "We will also ensure the few survivors in the mines confirm our version of the tale."

Naruto swallowed the lump that had begun to rise once more from his stomach. Lies and deceits…lies and deceits…he was a shinobi and the world was filled with lies and deceits.

Maybe, if he kept repeating to himself that…he wouldn't feel guilty anymore.

The child had been so soft in his hands. He had looked at _him_ with his wide brown eyes…and then he had done it all the same. He had killed him in cold blood.

How were they different from Orochimaru?

How was any of what they were doing different from the snake sage? How?

The corpses…they would rot, wouldn't they? He silently followed Yamato without thinking much about it…but even as he tried to forget, even as he tried to leave it behind…

How much blood was there in a baby…too much…

He had to do this. If not for himself, then for Sai and Sakura. He…He couldn't care less about the village, but if he ran…then what of them? Would they die to be his punishment? No, the Hokage had said…she had told him…she wouldn't…

But what if she had lied? He couldn't believe that. She had seemed honest, seemed sincere…seemed! He couldn't know, and he couldn't know because he had no way to prove it. If only he could listen to their thoughts…to the thoughts birthed of _Malice_ itself.

He was stopped by Yamato's hand and firmly pushed down on the ground —he had kept on running way past the point considered safe to spy upon an enemy shinobi, but thankfully his Taichou had stopped him. He fell on the ground in silence and kept his face pressed against the inward side of the mask of the Baku. He wasn't Naruto, but Baku…if, if he believed that…

He was Baku. He wasn't Naruto. Naruto would never kill a child. He wasn't a monster. He wasn't a demon. Baku would, but Naruto wouldn't. Yes, he could work with that.

Baku was his scapegoat. Some small part of him knew it had been Naruto to drive home the kunai, some tiny part that was quickly squashed and tucked away told him it had been him to do so. That tiny part died away and its corpse hid deeply in the confines of his soul.

"Baku," Neko hissed to his side. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," he croaked back. "I'm fine." His eyes trailed to where the hooded bandits had gone —a side entrance to the mountain's insides, probably a secondary mining tunnel. A few minutes passed in silence, before the five bandits came out, holding ensnared in a thick bundle of rope a miner who was pleading for his life.

"A Kage Bunshin each, kill them and substitute with each of them, but leave one alive," Neko whispered as an order. Baku narrowed his cold and indifferent blue eyes to his targets, and slowly brought his hands up to the seal. The next moment, the small group of clones executed a perfect dash from uphill downwards, each reaching their intended target before they could even think about screaming.

The dark beige blurs that slammed four precisely identical Yoroi Toshi in their chests, piercing their hearts before synchronously twisting the blade out and then slamming it back in on their necks had a sort of hypnotic cadence to their actions.

Karashi was mesmerized as he found himself toppled to the ground and held firmly down by four identical blood soaked blades while a fifth stood sharply clean plunged next to his head on the ground.

The five masked men that looked back at him all wore the same mask, and all carried the same coldness.

"We are Baku," they muttered at the same time. "Do not scream."

He didn't, because he was outright frozen in fear. The miner that had been pleading for his life just a moment before was freed by a Neko masked shinobi, and just as he did, the soot-covered man looked with awe at the Anbu.

"Thank kami you arrived!" the miner had tears in his eyes. "We've been terrorized by these mobsters and the Daimyo refused to act! You have our thanks shinobi-san…" Yamato nodded stiffly.

The Anbu-Taichou brought his right hand on the miner's shoulder, and then spoke as if it actually pained his heart to say so.

"We're sorry," his voice actually sounded _cracked_ —was _this_ all that being a true shinobi was about?

"F-For what, shinobi-san?"

"Your village…we were pursuing Iwagakure shinobi across the border, my colleague and I are in patrol," he spoke gravely. "Normally we wouldn't have entered the land of rivers, but the Iwagakure shinobi had trespassed on the land of fire and so we gave pursuit. They ran through your village and…it was not pretty what they did," his voice was actually filled with dread. How could he make such a honest expression!? How could he lie with such ease!?

Was the mask used for that too? To hide the disbelief in the eyes of the colleagues? That…Those had been blatant lies! Complete and utter lies! The man couldn't believe that, could he!?

"We have reason to believe they worked in a joint effort with the Kurosuki group, which is why we are currently taking custody of their members…my condolences for your losses." He stiffly bowed; the man had the guts to bow! How dared he bow!? How dared he grieve when he had given the order!?

Baku snapped his eyes shut as he abruptly dragged back up the man…Karashi, he had heard the others call him. He held the Yoroi Tanto close to the man's neck, only for the hood to fall down and reveal a boy no older than him —maybe just slightly taller, but not by much.

"A…Ah…Th…Were there survivors?" the man asked, his voice thickly brimming with agony as his eyes watered. Baku would remember that scene until the end of his days. The sight of a burly, coal dust covered man in his forties crying his tears out of his eyes as his sensei shook his head grimly. He would remember it, and he would try his best not to.

"My…my wife…" the miner croaked out between his sobs as he fell on the ground lifelessly, his frame shuddering as he kept on crying. Slowly, others from the mines who had remained to do overwork exited, and as Yamato turned to leave, Baku followed in silence.

"If it is of any consolation," Yamato added, "We will avenge them, for we are Konoha shinobi!"

Baku schooled his shoulders as he followed the man away, pulling on the remaining member of the Kurosuki group. They left behind the miners' wails and their dashed running towards the village…where they would find nothing but death and destruction.

"Where is Raiga's main camp?" Yamato asked then, stopping halfway alongside a road, near a crevice that seemed to naturally end on sharp rock spikes.

"I…Please don't kill me," the boy was crying as he spoke. "I had no choice…I know a Konoha shinobi too! He should be a Genin…Rock Lee, he liked my mother's curry…please I had nothing to do with them and I don't know any Iwagakure shinobi! Really! Please…"

"Answer the question," Baku gruffly hissed. What were the chances they'd met someone who knew about another Konoha shinobi? What were they supposed to do then? "Don't force me to resort to violence."

"Ah! I…"

"Baku," Neko snapped. "Silence. You're scaring the kid," Yamato continued smoothly. "I do not know of a Genin called Rock Lee…but if what you say is the truth and you were coerced, then we will certainly let you leave unscathed." He gestured towards him, and Naruto inwardly growled as he watched Baku let go of the boy.

"So," Neko continued. "Where can I find Raiga's main camp, Karashi-kun?" Yamato's voice was soft, but Neko's posture wasn't, and Baku's eyes told him all he needed to know.

"He's…He's got a camp way up the mountain," the boy muttered pointing upwards. "He has a trick to make an avalanche fall down and… he's got these swords that can spew lightning…there's always a light mist around him and he always seems to know where we are…I tell you he's scary, but…but well, sometimes he speaks alone all by himself," Karashi stammered out. "He also…he's got this bulky thing on his back. He never goes anywhere without it…"

"Thank you," Yamato nodded. "Are there any traps to his camp?"

"No, he doesn't have any. He said something about 'always seeing who was coming up' and we didn't question him at all…" Karashi swallowed. "I can go now, right?"

Yamato nodded.

"T-Thanks! If…if you swing by my mother's shop, she makes a really good curry, and…"

Baku had seen Yamato nod.

The nod hadn't been directed towards the boy…but towards _him_.

Karashi turned to leave only to see the tip of the Yoroi Toshi pierce through his left eyeball and slam directly into his brain, before pale blue flames _erupted_ and burned his skull to crisp. Naruto barely widened his eyes in surprise at the flames…he had no idea how he had called them forth. With a strong kick to the guts, the corpse flew in the ravine below, as it burned, shattering against the rocks that were at the bottom.

"Was that not excessive, Baku?" Yamato asked.

"Apparently not for Konoha," he remarked dryly. "And I made it quick."

"Very well," Neko nodded. "We begin ascension."

With a quick movement of hand seals, a Mokuton bunshin appeared from beside Yamato. "We are going against an Anbu rank opponent from Kirigakure. They favour Suiton techniques and have a trademark mist that can hide them. They are all trained to listen to the smallest of noises…and the Kiba are a lightning based pair of swords capable of calling down the lightning."

"Do you trust in my abilities?" Baku asked curiously.

"You have proven yourself loyal to Konoha with the previous test, and that is why we have moved to the second part. Had you refused, we would have moved on from the village without repercussions."

Baku's entire frame tensed.

_He killed the villagers_.

_**He could have avoided doing so**_.

He had _**killed**_ them.

He _killed_.

He _**killed them**_.

He could have failed the test…but what of his teammates? What if…what if failure meant their death? But the Godaime had said it wasn't true…but he hadn't wanted to risk them! He had wanted to play it safe! He had been the once to decide that Konoha was nothing more than a village filled with blackmailers…and the man here…he had barely tested his dedication to the village, he had probably been chosen to test to what 'lows' he would subject himself for the village.

He felt like he needed to retch in a corner.

He had committed _manslaughter_ out of fear they would target his teammates, but by doing so…he had proven himself instead loyal to the cause of the village! The man was _genuinely testing him_, not pulling strings to intimidate him into acting…

A loud booming sound of thunder at the top of the mountain sprung him out of his thoughts as he moved his gaze upwards to the summit, where a thick mist was condensing and slowly rolling downwards.

The Mokuton bunshin charged ahead.

"Baku? Full-engagement with your Kage Bunshin is authorized…go all out."

"Understood," Naruto nodded. He would ponder more on his _sins_ later: as it was, he had a duty to uphold to Konoha. His hands moved into a cross position as he narrowed his gaze behind his mask.

"_Tajuu Kage Bunshin No Jutsu…"_ he whispered out as chakra expelled through his pores. Puff of smokes resonated in the clearing, as precise formations of the same shinobi appeared, all with the same mask, all with the same eyes…all with the same resolution.

A _thousand_ Baku formed serrated ranks of fifty individuals —enough to warrant a full platoon of strength if composed of shinobi. The formations charged ahead in a deafening silence, interrupted only by the stampede of their feet on the ground. They disappeared into the mist formation after formation, as the crackling of thunder came down as lightning bolts in the midst of the fog, followed by rocks rolling down and crushing to their deaths the clones. The Mokuton bunshin of his Taichou had entered the mist and disappeared unseen, just like the real Neko had done too.

Naruto jumped to the side, avoiding a spinning ball of electricity that emerged from the thick mist as he too charged ahead. Random thoughts popped into his brain, of himself running up the mountain and then being smashed, sliced, torn apart, burnt, electrocuted, pierced, stabbed and more. He gritted his teeth as he saw repeatedly the face of the man they were hunting in the mist.

He had long dark hair and eyes, sporting a crooked smile as he was apparently enjoying the mindless slaughter. That lasted up to the point where he suddenly found himself dodging an attack, because the Anbu from Kiri…

He was now in front of him.

The Kiba's came down crackling with electricity, forcing Naruto to bring up his Yoroi Toshi with wind chakra in it. He gritted his teeth as a strong sense of Déjà vu filled his mind. The man would then swipe to the side with his other hand, and already he was dodging it rather than parrying the attack —if he dodged, he'd incur into a kick to the sides that would result in him losing balance and being then pierced by both blades later.

He widened his eyes for a brief second as one of his remaining clones _substituted_ with him. The clone had probably been the closest in the area. The moment he did substitute and pop, Naruto realized he had seen the man prepare to lounge forward —had he parried, he'd have ended up being stabbed.

So this was the strength of Kage Bunshin.

Knowledge of the battlefield, testing of the enemy's techniques and styles without risk, ability to freely think without having to be guided by their creator…the Kage Bunshin wasn't just a Kinjutsu…

And he understood _why_ it was a secretly guarded secret. A single shinobi could use it for exploration, create two or three at most…but a Jinchuuriki could create platoons…he could create divisions. A horde of one thousand shinobi, all trained, all prepared, all deadly…all increasing in skill and knowledge of the enemy as the time passed by…

He was battling an Anbu rank missing nin…and _he wasn't dead yet_. That alone spoke volumes of the power of the technique. He exhaled as he watched another 'group' of fifty clones battle him. They stabbed, lunged, swiped, kicked…each of them was an entity by itself: they weren't all tired the same way, and that meant that while there was only one Raiga…

There were at least still five hundred Baku fighting him, and their knowledge, their strength…it was _increasing_. Soon, Raiga called down another wave of thunder as the enemy Anbu tore down mercilessly his clones in the vicinity, before charging down on him again —how did he know he was the original? What gave him away?

"Enough playing," the man spoke with a cruel voice. Then, rather than closing the distance once more to slash at him, he brought down both Kiba on the ground —shattering the ground— and exclaimed. "_**Raisō: Ikazuchi no Utage!**_"

The reason he screamed that, rather than simply letting the technique work…was that it wouldn't have changed the result. Electricity flew from the skies down on the swords, and then bolts departed faster than the eye could see to slam into his clones. That was the difference between Anbu and Chuunin then…because of the five hundred clones remaining, only _two dozen_ stayed alive.

Baku had barely the time to think, that lightning bolts crashed against his body and fried him, skewing his nerves and sending him to twitch on the ground. The thunderstorm above them had begun to downpour, and as water descended clearing the mist, it became apparent that the twenty-four remaining clones would not last more than a few minutes.

He wondered where he had gone wrong. He had superior numbers, hadn't he? Then again he was missing experience, and the battlefield…it never remained the same. He watched clone number ten disappear in a pop, soon followed by number eleven and twelve.

It was then, that clone number fifteen rushed to his side with a kunai in hand.

"Boss," he said grabbing a hold of him and lifting him up. "Permission for summoning," he murmured to his ear. "Neko left us here…there's no other explanation."

"N-No," Baku stuttered out, trying to keep his body…wait…what…had…

He poured his wind natured chakra through his body, hissing and clenching his teeth as he felt the feeling of being shredded from the inside out abate slowly —he had done his best to keep it toned down, but he had no doubt he was going to suffer it once the adrenaline went down.

Just as Danzo-sensei had done to him once, when he ended up fried. That accident saved his life, because he fell down on the ground not a second after the Kiba's overhead swipe tore apart his previous bunshin, delivering on to him the knowledge of his death…and the fact that now, he was the only one remaining in the clearing.

"You were a nice opponent," Raiga spoke then calmly. "I will enjoy burying your body. What is your name, shinobi? I must write it on your tombstone, you see…"

In that precise moment, Neko dashed out from underground and slashed in an uppercut arc Raiga's back —tearing apart his cloak as blood sprayed outside. The weight the man had been carrying on his back fell down with a sickening thud, as the body of a bleeding boy revealed itself as it laid on the ground.

"R-Raiga…san," the boy croaked out as he moaned in pain. "It hurts…" a vicious slash from Yamato soon followed, coming from a completely different direction. The Mokuton Bunshin had hidden beneath the ground all this time, emerging only at the last split-second. The real Neko had waited until that precise moment to emerge from somewhere even beyond the battle and attack —maybe the camp itself?

The slash pierced through Raiga's side, forcing the Anbu to fall on the ground as the chakra blade gutted him with ease. Naruto coughed as he slowly held the area where the thunderbolts had struck him from the Kiba.

"Y…You…Ran…Ranmaru," Raiga coughed out as he fell to the side of the boy, whose eyes were already glazed over and dead, as the rain kept on pouring down.

"W…What is your…name, shinobi?" Raiga croaked out as his grip on the Kiba loosened. "Who…who are you?"

"We are Anbu of Konoha," Yamato replied. "We have no name."

The man brought down his Chakra Blade on Raiga's neck, decapitating the missing Nin with one swift blow. "Only our duty."

Yamato pulled out a small scroll, one that Naruto had seen on the vests of the Jounin-sensei before —those to carry corpses. "You have fought well, Baku," Yamato remarked simply. "It is thus my honour to induce you fully in the Anbu corps," Naruto tensed, but did not move as the bloodied tip of the chakra blade of Neko reached for his shoulder.

"The Anbu tattoo is carved with the blood of the enemy killed, tempered in the steel of the innocence lost and bathed with the tears of the heavens," Naruto said not a word as he felt the tip slice his shoulder, and then his skin. "It is a symbol of the Will of Fire, to burn brightly in the deepest shadows, hidden from the world. We are the shadows of Konoha, we are the darkness the fire hides and we are the first and the last line of defence of the village. We act upon the orders of the Hokage, and to him we owe our undying loyalty. We, who are worthy. We, who are loyal. We, who are unyielding."

Yamato then offered the Chakra Blade's hilt to Naruto, as if it was part of a ritual repeated since the dawn of time, as if he would know automatically what to do with it.

"We, who are _Anbu_," Yamato added softly. "Our identity is cast aside, for we serve from the shadows for no fame or glory. Our names we will forget until the moment we leave our masks. I name you _now_, _fully_, as Baku. That is your name and beneath it, may you bring glory to the Hokage's Will."

And Naruto…no, Baku…

He swore.

"I will," the problem with entering the burrow of the white rabbit…wasn't how deep it was, but the fact that, in the end…there wasn't land.

_Only a pool of bubbling acid for the foolish_.

They left the Land of Rivers the next day, letting a group of conveniently arriving Genin with their Jounin sensei —among which he recognized Kiba, Hibachi and Shino— take care to bring 'first relief' efforts to them as they were 'casually' in the area. The Land of Rivers had just lost a Gold Mine and its workers, and since Sunagakure was nearby too, the land of Wind would provide workers, while the land of Fire would provide protection.

Orochimaru's presence —not even present in the region— would be thwarted by that simple action. Simple…it was a way of putting it. Naruto ignored the nagging feeling at the back of his head, the pulsing sickness and the rotting sensation that disgustingly rose from his throat every time he tried to say something, or to think about that moment. Yamato didn't give him much time to think. The border patrol of the Land of Rivers wasn't spent only keeping an eye out for enemy shinobi, but also helping the population of the Land and showing a general good side of Konoha.

There really was no reason to doubt Konoha's goodwill, when shinobi of the village hidden in the leaf provided help to the elderly and the young.

Who could call them murderers, when they helped old women cross the road?

This just disgusted Naruto more…but thankfully, the month there passed fast, and with the border of Amegakure…there were no village to help.

The forests and the plains filled with rivers left the place to dull and brownish marches, where the rain thickly descended and forced him to wear a big and bulky cloak of dull beige. He still had made no progress with the Suiton technique, and he was actually starting to lose any hope of ever completing it. It was as he watched Yamato sparking a fire with a fire technique that he finally exhaled out his thoughts.

"Neh, Neko?" he asked, his voice half-monotone and half-mechanical as he spoke.

"Yes, Baku?"

"Can't I learn a _fire_ technique to complement my wind, rather than a water one?"

There was a moment of silence, which the continuous deluge of water softened only barely.

"You were told not to because it might have been dangerous for the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi to create a firestorm in the village, right?" Naruto muttered and shook his head. "Really…I try and bring up my hopes that the village might see me as a _shinobi_ loyal to the cause and not as a weapon of mass destruction…and then they crash down fast."

"I actually thought that was a good idea," Yamato muttered a moment later, "And no, I was not told I could not teach you fire techniques. I was told starting with the water one would better suit your need to master the Rasengan, due to their similarities."

Naruto blinked behind his mask. "Really?"

"Yes," Yamato nodded.

There was another moment of silence.

"Then…Katon release?"

"Imagine your chakra rippling upwards, like a crackling flame erupting from the pores of your hands. Generally fire is associated with the hand seal of the tiger," he demonstrated the seal. "It will help build up the…"

The air around Naruto began to sizzle as waves of warmth spread around his body as soon as he completed the symbol and began to try to call forth the chakra. The heat spread like a sort of blanket, drying the ground and the upper side of the cave they were resting inside as vapours slowly climbed and left the rocky formation. Yamato remained silent for a moment more, before barking out quickly.

"Baku! Stop!"

Naruto stilled. The heat receded and slowly the cave's ceiling began to drip down. "No wonder you couldn't do water release," Yamato muttered. "You're probably never going to, judging by how easily you picked up fire," the Anbu shook his head and sighed. "I should have known…"

"So, does that mean I get fire techniques?" Naruto asked with a hint of _excitement_ bubbling through his throat. Fire would mean…stronger techniques.

"Yes," Yamato nodded. "You get fire techniques."

He grabbed a Shuriken and palmed it, letting his hand open to grant Naruto vision of what he intended to do. Slowly, a little red glow began to seep into the metal, before it suddenly disappeared. "This is my limit on fire release techniques," he said hesitantly. "I have sort-of your same problem…I needed more than ten years to overcome it enough to light a camp fire. Sometimes you just get lucky enough to have an affinity and a second element you are good at…in exchange it becomes exponentially difficult to master a third one. Having Air and Fire, I suppose Water is out of the equation for you."

"So…you don't know any fire techniques?" Naruto's shoulders dropped.

"No, but it doesn't mean some principles aren't the same no matter the technique," Yamato retorted. "Like pouring elemental chakra into a blade…why don't you try it?"

The Jinchuuriki slowly took his Yoroi Tanto out of its holster, before letting his Wind Nature chakra flow through it. A light sheen of blue and pale grey covered the blade, as a slight breeze picked up ruffling the boy's hair.

"Now try with fire," Yamato remarked. Naruto felt the chakra drain from his body as he imagined the chakra bubbling and rippling through his hand and on the metal.

The next moment, he was holding on to a blazing burning sword that crackled with a _pale blue_ flame that slowly turned reddish and then sizzled back down to simply hot metal.

"Try and learn how to alternate between Fire and Wind nature chakra in the blade," Yamato said. "That's your new task: once that is learned, we will move on to Earth release techniques —which I suppose I can teach you of."

"Are all Jinchuuriki filled with Techniques?" Naruto's tongue felt slightly acidic.

"That is the logical conclusion, is it not? Your chakra levels are such that you easily have thrice the same amount as any Kage, thus more techniques with a more widespread range of destruction. Coupled with your chakra control —which is excellent for someone with your reserves, by the way— you will most probably become a large asset to Konoha's military force in the future."

"Had they taught me this in the academy…I think I understand why they didn't," Naruto grimaced. "You give a technique that burns to a kid, and he might burn your hair…if they gave me this and I made a mistake…"

"You would have probably burned down a house at the very least," Yamato nodded sagely. "It's good that you understand. _Konoha isn't against you_, Baku. The village was simply being careful."

"They could have told me," he bitterly muttered back.

"Would you have listened?"

"No," he shook his head slowly as a bitter smile formed on his face. "I probably would have screamed I wanted more techniques."

"Good," Yamato turned to the campfire. "Keep up practicing, we still have a long way to go."

Silence ensued in the camp, which was then broken off the next day as they began their trekking once more. They were still in Konoha territory, but it looked duller, rainier, sort-of like the Land of Rains rather than the actual land of Fire.

It was just as he was about to ask what they were supposed to be eating for dinner, when Neko suddenly tensed and then spun around, launching a volley of shuriken behind him. Baku stood quickly, jumping to the side of the cave to get a better view of their assailant.

It was then that he stilled.

In front of him was a pale-skinned man.

He had long, flowing red hair.

He wore a cloak, of black with red clouds.

His eyes were deep purple rings, concentric one with the other.

The fact that stopped Naruto, was that the shuriken launched…they hovered in mid-air in front of the man, who slowly picked them up one by one from the air itself.

The rain, as insistently as it had come down…

Stopped.

And with the sun slightly shining over the puddles of water that soaked the ground, the red haired man spoke.

"My name is Nagato Uzumaki, Naruto," he brought his right hand forward. "_I have come to take you home_."

Without missing a beat, without wasting an instant…

_Baku struck forward._

**Author's notes**

**This chapter is dark.**

**On the positive side, Naruto gets **_**power**_**. **

**Three months passed. (I told you the chapters would be a sort of 'expanded' time-skip on Naruto concentrating only on him)**

**On the negative…his paranoia brings him in the folds of Anbu.**

_**But everything is going to be fine folks!**_

**And think positive. This is the 'Loss of Innocence' arc! (I think I can call it like that. If I were to recap the arcs…We have: **

**Team Thirteen Beginnings: 1-17**

**18-20 are 'fluff chapters'.**

**21-26 is the 'Bloody Exams Arc'**

**27-32 is the 'Final Exam arc'**

**33-40 is the 'Chuunin Team Arc'**

**41-44 onwards can be called the 'Innocence Lost' arc.**

**I actually have a question for the readers: which 'quotes' within this story did you like the most? (By quotes I mean sentences which caught your interest, or that you particularly found 'soul shuddering' and the likes)**


	45. The Confrontation of Past Sins

Introverted

Chapter Forty-Five

Baku's right fist didn't make it a single meter near the red haired man. It stilled in mid-air, as if some sort of repulsive force was holding it firmly.

The purple-ringed eyes stared back at him, looking directly within his own soul, as the tiny beginning of a smirk appeared on the man's face. "Have you too become a weapon, Naruto?" he asked carefully, the hint of sadness lurking in his tone. "Have you lost your way?"

"How?" Naruto croaked out. "How do you know me?"

"I know everything," Nagato whispered back. Suddenly, he jerked his right hand to the side and as if swatting away a fly he slammed Yamato —who had been flanking him— on the ground from far away. "For I am God."

"You're a shitty God then," Naruto growled. "For everything you let happen."

Nagato cocked his head to the side and nodded slowly. "Yes, I am," he smiled. "But through Pain…comes growth. Through Pain, comes truth. Through Pain, comes realization. Enlightenment can only come through clenching one's own teeth and fighting forward, never betraying one's own ideals."

Naruto snorted as he jumped backwards and readied his Yoroi Toshi to fight. "Ah, yes," Nagato nodded. "That blade has felt the blood of the innocents on it," he kept his smile on —it was unnerving!

"How does it feel?" Nagato smoothly asked. "You don't have to do this any longer, Naruto," the red haired man said, with a condescending tone. "You can stop suffering now, you can stop fighting…I'll take care of you. Don't you want to be with your family?"

"I don't know you!" Naruto barked back.

"But I know you," Nagato smiled. "Born on the tenth of October, from Uzumaki Kushina and Minato Namikaze, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and the Yondaime Hokage, you graduated nearly dead last and became a member of team thirteen. Your teammates are Haruno Sakura and Sai Satou, you learned beneath Aoba Yamashiro and Danzo Shimura," he spoke softly. "Your first affinity is to Wind, but Fire is something that comes naturally to you."

Naruto paled. The…the last part meant he had been watching them since they had set up camp, and the first…the first meant he either had spies in the village, or someone had told him all of that.

"Naruto, I have not come to fight, not today," Nagato shook his head. "I have come…to tell you the _truth_," as he spoke, tendrils of wood emerged from the ground to try to ensnare the cloaked man. The wooden tentacles turned to smithereens the moment they tried to _touch_ the Uzumaki, as he narrowed his concentric eyes on Yamato. "Your insistence sickens me," he brought his left hand up and then clenched it, "Sleep."

Yamato's body fell on the ground as if a heavy weight had settled on his shoulders, soon followed by the ground cracking beneath the pressure as the man screamed from the pain.

"The truth," Nagato spoke next, looking at Naruto. "The truth about Uzushio," he took a step forward. "The reason the Uzumaki lost everything. The reason we were forced to escape, to leave behind our heritage, our past, our knowledge…hunted down like game, kidnapped and brought away."

Naruto swallowed as he carefully tightened his hold on his Tanto. "Why should I believe you?"

"I could kill you where you stand," the man said. "But I won't, for I speak the truth. A God needs not to lie," he remarked. "Not when the truth is far worse."

Naruto snorted. "And what's your truth then? I hear a lot of them," he rolled his eyes. "You've got the same cloak as Itachi and Tobi…same organization?"

The man tensed for a single instant, before the sun's rays shone against his forehead protector —that depicted an Amegakure symbol— glinting dangerously near Naruto's face.

"We belong to Akatsuki, the Red Dawn," he said then with a knowing look. "You have already met two of my trustworthy priests then."

"You really believe yourself a God?" Naruto sweated as he brought his right foot slightly backwards, to hold his weight better when he would charge again.

"Are Shinobi not creatures able to bend the will of the elements to suit their needs?" the man spoke again. "When such power grows, when the elements become Yin and Yang, when the very life can be brought back to the dead…why should I not call me by my rightful name? I am Kami, and my name is Pain," he opened both of his arms wide towards Naruto. "Embrace my words, Naruto. Embrace my truth…I can free you from your shackles."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto whispered.

"Your teammates should not hinder your choices," Nagato said with a wistful tone. "I can remove them, like I ordered your sensei removed."

"W…What?"

"Orochimaru laid in ambush for your team, when you first left. He was the one who sent his men to ambush you, to claim what was hidden." He shook his head. "He never could refrain from cracking the shells of secrets."

"B-But you…"

"I am God, when he acted, he acted because I approved," Nagato remarked calmly. "Has the pain of your sensei's loss opened your eyes to the shinobi world? Has the murder you have committed told you the truth? Can you now feel the pain, the agony and the undying screams of the retched and sinful world of shadows?"

"You…You're the reason Aoba-sensei is dead?" Naruto's voice was soft and filled with disbelief as he spoke. "H-He…"

"Orochimaru gave an order I approved of, and just like that, _with a mere nod_, your sensei died," Nagato said firmly. "Like the Hokage's approval destroyed a village of miners, or the words spoken in the darkness condemned our village to destruction. This is Pain. This wretched…this horrendous feeling, this agony that feels worse than being stabbed, for it lingers in your soul for years…can you feel it?"

"You killed Aoba-sensei," Naruto growled as scalding rage poured through his body. "You killed him."

"I gave an order," Nagato replied. "How am I different from your leader? From your Hokage? With but an order, after all…Uzushiogakure was destroyed. A mere 'yes' destroyed families, killed infants, slaughtered children! Did you think it matters to Kiri, to Kumo, to Konoha even? No matter where we went…we were hunted down," he softly added. "Konoha shinobi killed my parents…_civilians_ slaughtered for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This world must feel the true meaning of Pain, for without Pain they will never cease their fights! Until everyone has lost a precious person, until everyone cries their tears of regret, until everyone feels too horrified of war to even consider it…until then, I will be the God of this world."

He clapped both hands together as a giant puff of smoke called forth a strange looking caterpillar —one with the same ring-eyes as him. He deftly jumped atop it, letting his cloak billow in the wind, as above him the storm clouds kept on condensing and twirling. "What says you, Naruto Uzumaki!? What have you found, to be your solace in the world of Pain? I can offer you a family, Naruto! I can offer you a place to be yourself, and not a monster, a murderer, a sinner of the worse type! Accept my offer, Naruto! I will not lie to you, not like the others! We are kin, we are of the same blood and clan! I swear on my powers of a God: _follow me, and I will bring all those you cherish back to life!_"

"Shut up," Naruto snarled. His eyes were deep pools of crimson and gold. "Shut up," he hissed as blood dripped down from his palms, his frame slowly starting to crouch as his features became feral-like. Deep black circles began to appear around his eyes, as pulsing blue veins stretched across his skin. A light twitching of red chakra erupted through his entire body, as the chakra cloak mixed with the sand that was rising from the wet ground.

He could feel his nails elongate as his body trembled and shook beneath the sheer pressure of the hatred he felt. He could hear the chink sounds of chains clasping tightly, but by then…it didn't matter to him at all.

The first instant, he was there on the ground narrowing his eyes against the cloaked man. The next, he was banging his right hand against a sort of invisible wall in front of the ring-eyed man —he actually created ripples of force as his fist impacted against the magnetic counter-current designed to guard Nagato.

Water began to pour down as Nagato swatted Naruto away. The blond boy spun in mid-air, before pushing his feet against a sand platform that had vertically built itself in mid-air for him to use as a trampoline. He pounced back at the man in an instant, his mouth opening to regurgitate a sickening twisting Bijudama formed of dark crimson chakra. Nagato's summon jumped up taking the full brunt of the attack that ended upwards and detonated, tearing apart _the heavens themselves_.

The downpour stilled as Naruto's hand extended a sand rendition of a claw from his side to slash at Nagato's jumping back body. He tore his cloak, growling furiously and roaring as a second tail began to spread from the back of his body, swishing madly.

"So you have chosen your side, Naruto Uzumaki," Nagato remarked calmly. "So be it! I will show you true misery and pain! I…"

_Misery. Despair. Yahiko…you can't die! No! Konan wouldn't…_

_Hatred. Malice. Hanzo, I will have my revenge! Danzo, I will come for your life! You backstabber! You betrayer!_

"_**I AM BAKU**_!" Naruto roared as a tornado of air, flames and sand burst forth from his mouth like a raging grinder. The winds scattered the sharp glass formed from the high flames of air and fire with the sand, which tore through and grinded to a pulp what apparently was Nagato's body.

The body fell down on the ground with a sickening thud.

When it did, and when Naruto landed in front of it with a vicious and cruel smile on his face, the smile soon morphed to a twisted look of anger. The next roar tore apart much of the landscape surrounding him, as waves of air and tornados naturally formed on the ground and burned like a scene from hell itself. The waves of heat, the glass fragments floating in the air and the strong lashing winds made the spectacle…even more frightening.

Thunder struck down from the sky as Naruto snarled and bit down on the corpse that wasn't Nagato, but some sort of rendition that used a real living body as a sacrifice. He pounced on the corpse all the same, snapping the bones as his roars slowly died down, replaced by the screams, the shrieks…and finally the half-choked sobs.

Yamato poked his head out from his wooden dome —which he had used the split second he had been able to move away from the carnage. The battle hadn't lasted much —a mere minute or two— but already around him he could see the devastation that it brought.

He shuddered. This was the power of a Jinchuuriki and an S-rank shinobi battling. The ground that had been mushy was now charred, the rain that had been falling was now replaced by fragments of glass that floated in the winds —and were all sharp and as warm as if they had been taken out of the forge. In the depth of a depression in the ground, he carefully eyed Naruto's trembling form as his hands covered in blood ripped apart the body.

"B-Baku!" he snarled. The masked shinobi stood awkwardly up, his hands dripping the blood on the ground as he trudged back up from the crevice. He slowly stood next to Yamato, his height lower than his of a good head, and yet…yet to Yamato, it felt like watching a fellow operative, and not just a Chuunin with a cloak and an Anbu mask on.

"Yes, Taichou?"

"Are you under control?" he asked. He hadn't needed to use his Mokuton to restrain him, and whatever had happened —whatever techniques he had used to create this veritable glass hell on earth— was now slowly dwindling down and coming to a halt. Naruto took another step forward, as his feet scrunched on the glass fragments on the ground.

"Yes, Taichou."

"Good," Yamato exhaled slowly. "We can proceed."

"Should we not report back to Konoha?"

Neko nodded, unhooking one of the scrolls from his vest and opening it to push out in a plume of smoke a small avian —a messenger hawk. The animal had a Konoha forehead protector on its neck, but the moment his eyes met Naruto's, the bird squawked with a smug grin and flapped on the boy's shoulder. Naruto's bloody hands came up to caress the chin of the animal, whose beak delicately bit down on the morsel of flesh that had remained beneath the boy's nails.

"Interesting," Yamato acquiesced as he scribbled down a string of numbers —Anbu code, probably— on a scroll which he then clasped to the hawk's leg. "Deliver this quickly."

The hawk shrieked at him, and ruffled her feathers. She didn't move.

Baku waited for a heartbeat, before whispering. "Go."

Then the Hawk took off.

"We should reach the old border in less than two week if we hurry," Neko commented after a few seconds of tense silence. "Let us not waste more time here…"

"Understood."

With that single word, they were off.

The change wasn't instantaneous as one would think. The marshes and the bleak coloured grounds left the place first to dull green plains that slowly, day after day, turned brighter. Small trees grew larger with the passing of the miles, and as their surrounding turned from green luscious plains to thick forests and giant tree trunks, Naruto felt more at ease.

This looked more like Konoha's territory than Amegakure —but it was undoubtedly Kusagakure, the land of grass.

"Very well," Yamato remarked after a few hours of walking among the tall branches of the trees. "We have nearly arrived."

Baku nodded as he looked around. There was nothing but branches, leaves, and little more of interest. Maybe a few birds or bugs flying around, but nothing really…

He slowly brought his hand to his Yoroi Toshi, because he felt it then —a light sensation, a sort of tug and a pull that seemed to be calling for him.

He didn't move as his eyes zeroed on a blur of green that seemed to be flying towards them with incredible speed. He clasped the handle of his Tanto just as the blur stopped abruptly —the wind displacement scattering a few of the leaves. A tanned girl, with an orange clip in her short spiky green hair and a cocky smirk stood flying with four wings made of green chakra on her back. She was holding on to a cylindrical red object strapped to her back, from within which Baku could hear the low rumbling noises of insects buzzing alarmingly.

They were scared.

"State your i-den-ti-fi-ca-tion!" the girl sing-sung, taking care to say each syllable of the word separately. "Or I'll eat you."

She smiled. "I'm hungry too."

"We're the shinobi from Konoha that will assist in patrolling the borders," Yamato remarked. "We are expected."

"Oh, yes!" she clapped her hands together. "Suien said he was expecting you! And there's one like me with you too, yes?" she lowered herself until her face was merely inches away from the Baku mask. Her eyes were pupil-less and golden, and she sported a toothy grin as she added.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Fu!" she then tried to hug him. "Let's be friends!"

He ducked beneath the hug, sending the girl to 'stumble' in the air with her chakra wings.

"Hey! That's not nice," she huffed as she jumped down and landed. "Not nice at all!"

Baku shrugged. "I am Baku," he remarked.

"That's not your name silly," Fu said with a giggle. "You're the boy who ate that girl! Yes? You like to eat too, right? You like fresh food eh?" she winked at him. She had probably sixteen years, albeit her way of speaking resembled more that of a small boy.

"I am Baku," he insisted calmly.

"If you could refrain from infringing my teammate's Anbu cover," Yamato spoke then, "It would be better."

Fu sucked in air sharply, before making a 'zip' movement with her hand and nodding vividly. "Fu's good at keeping secrets! She eats them too! Neh, do you have something yummy?" she brought out her wings again and fluttered closer to Naruto, her right hand gently caressing his arm. "I'm starved," her eyes shone lightly as her voice lowered itself of a timbre. She licked her lips sensually, before making a tiny coy smile and moving her face closer to Baku's side, to whisper in his ear.

"We can _eat_ each other out, if you want to," then she smiled brightly and stuck her tongue out. "Kidding! Suien said I can't eat allied shinobi," she shrugged and began to fly. "Follow me! I'll take you to camp where there's Ryu-Ryu waiting for us!" she winked. "She's really shy," she giggled.

Then she began to fly away from them without missing a heartbeat. She was actually singing as Baku and Neko followed her through the trees, jumping and speeding up to catch her. It was with a mixture of annoyance that Baku realized that he knew precisely well what flying truly was about…and the reason why the girl was probably flying too.

Flying was freedom, freedom from the chains that bound one to the earth and its laws…free from obligations, orders or…or just about anything.

To fly was to escape and be free.

He couldn't help bringing his thumb near his chin —to push it beneath his mask and bite on it— but he held. What would he do? Summon a Condor only for the need to fly as fast as the woman that felt so familiar to him? No, there was no way he'd do something like that…

_Chomei, the Nanabi_.

The sins of Ignorance, which were those born of apathy, of uncaring, of simply being with no thought beyond the now. Those who lived in the ever-fleeting present with no care for others, the cicada who sung day after day without a care and that lived only as long as luck would have it.

Ignoring the truth of the world did not hide it from reality, but Ignorance was bliss.

Those thoughts twisted into Naruto's mind as he heard the rattling of the chains that held down the Kyuubi and the Ichibi, whispering to him of knowledge that he wasn't supposed to know.

Behind the mask, the Chuunin-Anbu narrowed his eyes. The way they spoke of devouring, of making whole…it was sort of different and yet at the same time…it felt right.

He didn't know what to make of it, but he knew as he finally landed on the soft ground with Yamato in tow —why the older Anbu had chosen him to go forth first was a mystery— that he was going to move forth with feet of lead.

The camp apparently had little more than a tent and a half-concealed fire. There was a woman there that Naruto seemed to recognize. It took him an instant.

"You," he said, "You're from the Konoha exams."

Ryuzetsu's eyes widened briefly, before the Anbu schooled her features and nodded. "My name is Ryuzetsu, are you the Konoha shinobi assigned?"

Yamato nodded. "We are. I am Neko."

"I am Baku," Naruto stiffly said. He sniffed the air for a moment, his face turning around. "I smell blood."

"I found something to eat," Fu commented happily. "So I ate him."

The fact she said 'him' rather than 'it' spoke volumes.

"Will she be a problem?" Naruto queried.

"I'm not a problem!" Fu hotly exclaimed back, huffing and pouting. "I'm the Jinchuuriki of the Nanabi! I'm the seven tails! I'm stronger than you, yes!"

"I doubt it," Baku remarked taking a step forward, which soon met another from the tanned girl. There was a moment of silence.

"Then you're stupid, because no-one's stronger than me!" Fu puffed her chest out and took another step.

"Baku," Yamato warned him, but Baku didn't hear.

"Do you want to spar once our patrol is over?" Naruto mocked her. "Maybe by then you'll understand who's stronger."

"You're on!" she snapped. "And I'm not going to eat you: you'd taste yucky anyway!"

She spun and walked away to a corner of the camp, where she sat down to sulk.

"Was that necessary?" Ryuzetsu asked raising an eyebrow.

"She won't eat me," Baku deadpanned. "I take that makes it necessary."

"I think she was joking, Baku," Yamato tried hesitantly.

"No," Ryuzetsu shook her head. "She…she's got her own concept of eating, I think," the woman murmured. "Well…I'm Ryuzetsu, but you already know that right? I'm a Kusagakure kunoichi and…"

"You were supposed to be from Taki," Naruto mulled over, "I think I remember you from the forest."

"Possible…I lost my team there," she murmured, "I was going as a Taki kunoichi because their team was incomplete…only that," she added hesitantly.

"Yes," Baku turned to look around once more, "You were promoted to Chuunin too?"

"Indeed," she stiffly answered. "I was."

"You do not wear a mask," Yamato remarked. "I was told operatives for this mission would be of Anbu-rank."

"Ah…we of Kusagakure don't believe in wearing masks for hits…it makes it easier for others to trust us when they know our assassins by face: if we haven't sent one, they'll know."

"That just means you can mask one of your shinobi as one of other countries and set them up," Baku quipped with a shrug. "Which is smart, not overtly so but still…"

"That is slander," Ryuzetsu remarked as she shook her head. "I am a fire release user, Fuu has some abilities with her bugs, but I don't think she actually has any techniques."

"She wasn't trusted enough?" Naruto was actually holding back a worried tone in his voice.

"I think…I think you'd better ask her." The diplomatic answer left Baku to cock his head to the side for a moment, before he nodded.

"We should get to know one another better," Yamato proposed, only for Baku to _stare_ at him. "Maybe not." He quickly moved to the side of the camp, letting his back against the tree as he took in the situation at hand. Naruto hadn't said much of a word since their departure from Amegakure —well, not that there was much to say to begin with, what with his life having to be kept secretive and him not actually being a socialite. Yet the first thing the boy had done upon his arrival had been to antagonize the other Jinchuuriki, as if there was something that kept unnerving him. Was it the 'eating' part?

He shuddered slightly. The way the boy had acted with that fake corpse —which he had sealed anyway to be sure— just made it even more maddening to think about. Why eat the corpses? He couldn't understand. He couldn't find any valid reasoning behind that logic, and that left him stumped. He was moving blindly, and…was he supposed to control Naruto? The villager's best solution would be to slice his neck during the night, hoping he'd die without causing a fuss. That was as far as his 'mean of control' extended.

"Nanabi says you're stupid," the voice of the seven tails interrupted his thoughts, as he watched the Jinchuuriki of Takigakure stroll over him with a crown of grass blades in her hand —it took skill to knot together such a quantity of blades in a few minutes . "Because you don't know, you're thinking evil."

He raised an eyebrow from behind his mask —could the Jinchuuriki possibly…

"Things flow," she said then. "Like fish, you know? They swim in the river," she said with a bright smile. "The river goes from the mountain alllll the wayyyy to the sea, and then back to the mountain, when it rains," she nodded. "And that's good, right? Because plants grow and fish swim! But…but water is sometime strong, and so people dam it! Which is nice, because you get more plants and fishes near…but those further down don't! And in the end the fish are all caught, and the ocean starts to drain, and if the water doesn't get to the ocean then everyone is sad…and you know… they die of hunger."

He was starting to think there was a connection now, the only problem was finding out what the girl meant with half of her words.

"Chakra is water," she said. "Yin and Yang! Positive and Negative…it's a tool, but balance must always be there!" she nodded firmly. "Nanabi says that when the balance goes awry, then things are born to put it back in place. When things are born to put it back in place…they take different forms. Fires, Earthquakes…forces of nature," she had a wistful smile.

"Or the power to kill the guy who tries to rape you in the night," she giggled, "Evil is everywhere. Good too, but if evil can't be filtered then it can't become good. So the Nanabi asks me to free her, and I say no, because she's nice to have —she's a friend, and I ate her because she's nice and will always stay with me." She smiled, just as Neko decided he had heard enough. The girl was probably mad.

"I see," he said carefully.

"You don't believe me, but the Nanabi says it's fine, because you're stupid and ignorant," Fu nodded firmly. "But with suffering comes truth."

Yamato's eyes narrowed. "Who did you hear this from?"

"Someone who wanted me to enter his family," she chirped. "I said no. My family is Nanabi, because she's always there for me!" she smiled as she tapped her stomach. "She makes sure we can only have each other, she eats everyone else!" she frowned a moment later. "He left before I could eat him, but he said he'd be back!" she nodded strongly.

"I see," Yamato dryly commented, before looking to where Naruto was currently standing —opposite of him and imitating his moves. He wondered if the boy had actually taken a liking to the Anbu way of thinking: he knew only a few who usually went completely through their first Anbu mission initiation without saying no.

Tora looked aghast as she watched her 'team' nod to the mission the Taichou had given. Her sensei was perfectly at ease with following through with the orders, and the psycho-monster woman had no trouble. Their Taichou, the silver-haired guy who had a wolf mask, seemed to be taking a stroll in the market.

As if he hadn't just told them to line with explosives a cruiser filled with civilians in the Land of Waves. Sure, it was a cruiser filled with civilians and _apparently_ contraband cargo being hauled all the way from Kumo to Kiri through the Gato's ship-lines, but still…

They would need two hours of running in the water to reach the cruiser's theorized location as it neared the bridge between the land of waves and Kirigakure's main island. The Gato Corporation Bridge was a spectacle to behold —albeit one that she really didn't find all that impressive.

_She had no trouble_ believing the mission would be easy. It was the 'leave no survivors' that had her worried. The cruiser had only burly anglers on board, nothing too traumatic, but…that was a civilian cruiser: there were no shinobi. It would be a slaughter.

_She had no trouble_ turning her hands crimson with the blood of monsters, beasts, and people who fought against her. Here however…she was one of the bad guys. Sure, they had trained her in Konoha to always believe that the missions were for the good of the village, but this? This wasn't…

She was running behind her sensei without even realizing it, her nervousness swallowed down as she carefully entered from one of the lower round windows of the boat —she was small enough to fit through. She wore one of those long all-concealing coats that the Anbu wore while in Konoha to hide their forms and her mask hid her face and her green eyes perfectly. Strapped at her waist was a chakra blade —a gift for finishing the trainee period and entering the live-action training time.

The others, they would climb from above while she looked around the cargo hold for proof. She was the one in charge of giving the order to the others to intervene or not.

It was as she carefully left the small storeroom and moved her gaze around the corner that she came to a screeching halt. There were cages and shinobi, the latter wearing Kumo headbands and looking around with a bored or lecherous face. The reason for the face the shinobi had was clear by the content of the cages.

Humans.

There were a few scrawny looking men and a minority of women in the cages. The leers were directed at the latter, but even as Sakura's soul curled up in shock, she realized that the contraband in question…it was slaves. This was a slave trade.

Kumogakure was exchanging civilians with Kiri —she could even think that the bloodline purges had something to do with it to boot, but then why? Hadn't the rebels won?

Then again, 'rebels' weren't necessary good persons too. Good people didn't rebel to their ruler —as the purple whore had made clear to her in…in the forest.

She slowly stepped back in the storeroom and pressed against the small radio in her ear.

When she didn't hear static —meaning she had a free line of communication, she whispered.

"Contraband confirmed: slaves."

"Affirmative, begin distraction."

The reply was succinct and to the point, and Sakura nodded as she slowly placed an explosive tag to the side of the storeroom —soon followed by a second and a third. She placed a piece of trip wire beneath the three tags, and slowly unbundled it until she was next to the door in question, with a kunai in her other free hand.

She counted slowly to three.

She sent a pulse of chakra to the tags, which lit up just as she dashed out of the room, throwing a kunai at the first Kumo shinobi who looked at her in shock as it pierced his neck and sprayed blood on the ground. The tags exploded and sent the entire cargo hall careening against the right side —except for her, because her feet had remained attached with chakra to the floor.

She charged through and managed to hit with another kunai in the arm a Kumo kunoichi, while using the assigned Chakra blade to slice the chest of a shinobi nearby. The two wounded shinobi screamed a string of curses as they regrouped behind the unscathed ones —who had in the meantime regained their bearings.

They began the hand seals for an electric technique, only for one of them —their leader and probably a Jounin, brusquely interrupting them.

"Stop it you idiots! Do you want to fry the merchandise!?"

The women were screaming in the cages, as Tora gave a quick look around. She could throw an explosive tag at a cage on the other side of the hall —the floor was now inclined, it would fall directly on the enemy ninja and give her time to attack or leave— but that would mean injuring or potentially killing a few slaves.

She couldn't do that. Naruto wouldn't.

"Who are you, little ninja?" the man said then, looking at her. "You don't look from around here…"

She didn't reply as she slowly moved her head to the side in a silent rendition of 'really?'

Unnerving the opponent always worked to make them brag —most of the time.

She felt the air current move and she ducked down just as blades of wind tore through the upper side of her cowl, sending bits and pieces of the leather to fly together with a few strands of pink hair.

"Pink hair? Really!?" the Jounin laughed. "Oh right, I forgot," he grinned. "Water and Wind only guys," the Jounin —he could really be nothing else, if he had two affinities— "let's drown this little rat."

"I'm a Tiger," she replied frostily. "I _eat_ rats." The first hand sign was easy. By the second, she was attacked by the two Chuunin-rank who flanked her together with the Jounin. Their attacks passed through her Bunshin body with ease as she stabbed her chakra blade straight in the spine of the Jounin —or at least tried as the Jounin itself turned into a lightning form that _detonated_.

She ended backwards from the strength of the explosion, as lightning arched and ended up against the rusty iron cages —keeping the slaves inside safe all the same.

The two Chuunin were safely smirking from their spot, as lightning simply passed through them without harming their bodies.

Sakura snarled as she felt her entire body twitch and spasm.

"Stupid ninja…lightning can't affect people in iron cages," the Jounin emerged from the shadows. "Now let's see who this pretty Anbu is," he licked his lips as his right hand went to unclasp her mask. She snarled through it, and the moment his hand moved her mask beyond her mouth she bit down on it hard.

The Jounin snarled as a sudden electric shock passed straight through Sakura's mouth —making her froth, as she couldn't feel her tongue anymore.

"That's what bitches get for being hard," the Jounin snarled as he completely tore off the girl's mask. "Uh," he chuckled. "You're just a kid."

Bored, he stood up. "I'll let you choke on your own tongue then…damn, here I was hoping for a woman…"

Just as he turned around, a string wire rewarded him by slicing his neck off in a single instant as the hazel eye and sharingan eye of the purple haired forest-whore stood open in glee. She cackled as she placed the bandana back on her sharingan eye, before resettling her Anbu mask. She had apparently killed the other Chuunin while they had all been distracted, as their bodies floated in the ankle deep water that slowly was entering from the breach in the hull.

The woman then laughed as she got down on one knee near Sakura, holding her mouth open and pushing her tongue out to let her breathe. "Never bite a lightning release user, brat," she remarked. "Especially not on their hands, really…what was the brain telling you?" she snorted as she deftly grabbed Tora's mask. "You should have herded them back in the storeroom with the water, or broken the walls in here too. Even lightning users don't use lightning lightly when wet, because they aren't stupid!"

She shook her head. "Lightning lightly, ah, good one!" she chuckled. "Well kid, I suppose you did well." She hoisted the girl on her shoulder, making Sakura mentally wince as she felt her teeth bit down on her tongue in pain.

"Uhhh…"

"Yes, yes we're leaving," Anko said rolling her eye. "We cleaned up above really well! Found a lot of stuff too!"

"Uhhh!" Sakura's eyes moved to the slaves, who all held a hopeful gaze on them.

"Oh, right!" Anko reached the end of the cargo hall, and the stairs to the above floor. Within a second, a volley of kunais with explosive tags slammed all around the hall. "No offence folks, but we can't leave any survivors who saw an Anbu's operative mask! It's the protocol! See ya suckers!"

Then Anko pulled Sakura with her away as the tags sizzled and detonated, as the slaves screamed as the lucky ones died first.

The unlucky ones would drown.

Sakura's eyes were wide in shock as she watched Anko place her Tora mask back on her face. "Now, now, you shouldn't look at me like that, brat," she chuckled as she placed her on her shoulders like a captured deer. "It's in the protocol! You were stupid enough to have your mask taken? Your fault! And frankly…I hate having to herd slaves around. They always wine about their mothers or fathers or wives and it's boring, and you take weeks to go somewhere when all you need as a shinobi alone is days…" she reached for the bridge, where both Yugao-sensei —wearing a cat mask— and Kakashi —wearing the wolf one— were moving through the notes.

There were the bodies of the captain and his crew on the ground, all dead.

The Wolf Masked Kakashi gave but a glance towards her still twitching form, and then resumed shuffling through the papers. He absent-mindedly grabbed a few and pouched them, before giving a nod to Yugao who simply grabbed the helm and spun the ship.

"Will it be enough?" she asked the Wolf Mask.

"Mah…line the ship with explosives…better safe than sorry," he remarked.

Two hours later, the cruiser ship Algatha crashed into the central pillar of the Gato Corporation Bridge. The explosion trembled pots through all of the land of Waves, as of the bridge itself remained nothing more than ruined pillars in the water.

Sakura watched —her body still slightly twitching— from the shore the bridge crumbling down together with the merchants and the people who worked as guards on it, but she just couldn't muster any emotion. She had done her job, hadn't she?

Her hands were filthy with blood however…she wondered how Naruto was faring. Was his patrol any better than her Anbu training? In that silence, she missed Sai's casual quips and words. They always seemed to make things better.

The patrol of Kusagakure's border and prison —or ruins of said prison— went by without a single hitch. Even the slight detour to visit the capital of Grass and its leader showed nothing strange or bizarre. It was actually unnerving Baku.

Nothing was going on. Neko hadn't given him any orders, and the patrol was actually coming to an end. Their last months would be in Takigakure's border, and then their capital. Fu had actually stopped talking completely, preferring to just hum along as she flew in front of them. Then again, they were a patrol with two Jinchuuriki and two Anbu-rank shinobi —what could actually stop them?

The answer came on a rainy day of May, as the thick humidity of Takigakure stuck Naruto's clothes to his skin even before one of the casual and usual downpours began. To think that being North of Konoha, the weather was supposed to be milder…

The scathing warmth of the land was always replaced with freezing downpours of icy cold water, which made his teeth chatter —he'd have caught a sickness by now, if it weren't for the fact that he was practically immune to being sick.

Naruto was standing guard over the camp, with Fu humming and flying up in the air while buzzing to the nearby insects —sometimes, swarms of beetles would start to follow her in the air for a while, but they always disappeared when she got hungry.

Fu slowly hummed to herself before floating down and letting her legs dangle from the same branch that Baku was currently standing on.

"We're going to spar soon," she said then, for the first time in months since they had begun their patrol. There had been no attempt at conversation before with him —not that he had researched them— and she had always generally kept to herself or to talking with Ryuzetsu. "So I wondered," she hummed. "Are you scared I'll eat you?"

"No," he shook his head.

"Can't we fight now, then?" Fu asked. "I want to eat something crunchy," she remarked. "And you look crunchy."

"You said you wouldn't eat me," he replied.

"Ah, right," her head dropped. "I said that," she sighed. "Well…do you want to eat me?"

"No," he dryly said.

"Why not? Am I not good enough?" she asked, pointing at herself. "Oh, you like playing with your food too? I like playing!"

"I don't play with my food," he exhaled slowly, as his eyes settled up to the sky covered by the thick branches filled with leaves. The air around them was fresh —considering it was raining all around them. The seven tails' clothes were wet, and clung to her skin, as she seemed to glisten slightly from her spot.

"Do you…" Fu asked slowly, "Do you have someone to eat with?"

He raised an eyebrow at that, before slowly giving a curt nod. "I do."

"Oh," her shoulders dropped. "Can I come too?"

"Haven't we been eating up until now together?" he looked back at the camp, wasn't that what the girl meant?

"No, that's…that's just ingesting food," Fu exclaimed affronted. "Eating is…you eat with your family, yes? And you eat with your friends…and when you eat you eat good things, that you keep inside of you because they're warm and nice…ingested food can be puked, yes? Eaten food isn't."

"What…what exactly do you mean with 'eating' me?" he asked carefully.

"We're the same," she said slowly. "I want to keep you," she added then. "So I want to eat you," she nodded to herself. "Like…some insects eat their mates, because they want to always have them near, right?"

"I don't think it works that way," Baku remarked, crossing his arms over his chest. "And when did you decide on this?"

"I saw you fight," she whispered. "That girl, in the arena…I…saw you, fighting, I heard her scream…I know you didn't want to do it…but you ate her all the same," she murmured. "But Suien said I couldn't eat allied shinobi," she murmured. "So…can we eat together then?"

There was silence, a silence that stretched for a few minutes as the girl seemed to fidget, standing there and twisting a lock of her green hair with her fingers that had fallen over her face. Her golden eyes looked down, as if waiting an answer from him.

Baku looked around for a moment, and then, just as he was about to reply…

A scream tore through the air as a three scythed blade swung spinning through the downpour, slicing straight through Fu's side and leaving behind a trail of blood as it disappeared back where it came from.

"_**FOR JANSHIN-SAMA!"**_

The scream brought Baku to full attention as he looked around in search of the shinobi who had done that, but in the middle of the thick downpour he couldn't see further than where the water was halted by the branches.

Both Yamato and Ryuzetsu had heard the yell, but the two Anbu-rank shinobi froze as they watched a figure step out from the side of their camp. The Takigakure forehead protector slashed, as the pupil-less green eyes of one of the most wanted S-rank shinobi of Taki stood there watching them with a half-bored look.

"Kakuzu of Taki," Yamato whispered.

"Anbu from Konoha," Kakuzu remarked dryly. "I'd recognize those masks anywhere. Do you have a bounty? Remove your mask…I might not even bother fighting you two if there isn't one high enough…"

It was just as Yamato was about to reply that he suddenly switched with a Mokuton Bunshin, to avoid the stab that directly pierced his heart coming from behind…from Ryuzetsu.

"Kakuzu-san," Ryuzetsu said crisply as his 'body' fell on the ground. "The Jinchuuriki are…"

"Stupid girl," Kakuzu growled. "He's a bunshin," the S-rank shinobi snarled as he pointed towards his wood bunshin. "But this…" the S-rank shinobi chuckled, "Sure brings back memories," he fondly said the last sentence as Yamato merged with the tree roots nearby. "Remain on your guard!" he snapped at Ryuzetsu.

Neko mulled it over: so Ryuzetsu was a spy for Akatsuki. The problem now was another…how was he going to get Baku out of there?

An S-rank shinobi of forty years, of sixty like Orochimaru was a formidable foe with a run on sight order…

Kakuzu of Taki was a ninety-one years old S-rank shinobi who had battled against the first Hokage himself, and was an Elite assassin who had slaughtered his own village's Kage and council in order to acquire Taki's forbidden techniques.

A trained Jinchuuriki could probably take him on, but he _wasn't one_, and Naruto wasn't trained enough.

The best solution was to retreat.

That was when the ground beneath him exploded, forcing him to jump in mid-air and use the trees to reach for the air. Behind him, Kakuzu laughed dryly as he simply swatted away the giant tree, which he had uprooted. "No use hiding, Konoha-nin," he remarked. "Let us talk nice and slow," he flickered away to reappear with his right fist covered in stone straight in front of Yamato, who parried it with his chakra blade.

The chakra blade snapped cleanly in half.

"I just want to talk, shinobi," Kakuzu snarled. "Tell me…" he began slowly, "Are you as strong as Hashirama, little leaf?"

To that question, Yamato narrowed his eyes as he took out a second Chakra blade —he never went anywhere without at least two, for safety reasons.

In the silence interrupted only by the downpour of water, at the border of Takigakure's territory that confined with Iwagakure, that was how they stood.

And time seemed to slow as the battle was about to begin.

**Author's notes**

**Pain knows a lot.**

**I already showed the Spy in a previous chapter. He is easy to find, and if you forgot about him, then he's a good spy.**

**Sakura thinks Naruto would never kill innocents. She's such a good girl.**

**The Gato Bridge is down.**

**And battles! S-rank readies to curbstomp Konoha! **


	46. The Murdered Innocence of Souls

Introverted

Chapter Forty-Six

The laughter died out as Fu suddenly lurched over, falling with her knees against the branch as she coughed up blood. Baku was at her side in a moment, but as her eyes widened in fear, deep gashes began to appear all over her body. Large cuts, perforations, the cracking noise of bones breaking all echoed as her body crumpled down —still breathing, but undoubtedly out of commission.

Baku had a moment to think, and he came to a single conclusion.

It couldn't be a poison.

He barely got down, avoiding the spinning scythe that cut the downpour of rain once more. With his instincts screaming for him to run, he pounced behind the scythe in question landing on the same branch as his attacker. A white haired man wearing a tattered and frayed cloak that once depicted clouds of red stood in the middle of a strange circle, his entire body black except for some white lines that resembled a skeleton. He looked as if he had overused the war paint, and his maddening smile was something that sent shudders down Naruto's spine.

"Jashin-sama saw fit to grant me a boon today," he spoke in hushed tones. "Two Jinchuuriki, at the price of one? Surely, this is a sign! Glory to Jashin!"

The rain kept on falling as Baku exhaled slowly. He held his Yoroi Toshi at the ready as he watched the man spin his three-bladed scythe in his hand nimbly and with grace.

He positioned his Tanto perpendicular to his body, taking on a stance as his cloak floated behind him because of the wind of the rainstorm. There was no use trying to hide immediately —the shinobi's eyes were on him, their dark maddening gaze seemed to be analysing everything he did. The enemy smiled wickedly, licking his lips as if in anticipation of a great fight. "Ah…Come then, if you aren't scared of me! For I am Hidan, first cultist of Jashin! Beneath his gaze of death and destruction, I will walk forth! Come then! Come and suffer by my hand!"

Chakra slowly formed to reinforce his Yoroi Toshi, the light blue sheen covering the blade and extending its range. The longer the range of a weapon was, the easier to block an attack.

Baku charged ahead with a Kage Bunshin, using the distraction of the charge to hide his main body on the treetop above as the man twisted his scythe and launched it, letting it spin wildly in the air just enough to get the shadow clone by the side of the face before he could even act.

This was another Anbu rank shinobi or more, because he _hadn't_ seen the attack connect, and it had all looked like a blur.

He was right in placing this under the clauses of 'Kage Bunshin required for survival'. The fact the man had gone for the face of his Kage Bunshin however…it spoke volumes: the man knew that had been a clone, so he knew the real Naruto was still hiding somewhere. He swapped positions on the higher tree branches, as he formed a hand-seal.

Five seconds, and a horde of Naruto-clones jumped down from above and the sides, their Tanto ready to fight the enemy's scythe. The man screamed as he spun his scythe back and forth, like a sort-of Yo-Yo that brought death and destruction as it mercilessly tore through Bunshins one after the other.

"Really!? This is an affront to Jashin! Unbeliever! Miscreant! Unfaithful!" as smoke came from the puffed bodies, more appeared to take their spot. Naruto hissed as he remembered, as he saw with his own eyes the speed of the man. The scythe connected with a chain made of barbed wire, and the enemy used it with ease to protect himself by guiding it with his own chakra. His movements were _fast_, and he could barely see them to begin with, but even after suffering through his pattern of attacks...he still couldn't see.

He had to work on instincts alone, because with anything less —with any distraction, any second of catching breath— the man would attack him, and he would _kill_ him. Had this been a real fight, he would have lost three hundred allied shinobi in the first five minutes.

One of his clones got close enough to nick at his cloak, before the man's legs came into the fray and smashed his face down. Taijutsu was really out of the question, and Tantojutsu didn't have enough range —even when enhanced with his chakra.

The man spun the scythe around him repeatedly, as if he could not become tired at all. He even had the beginning of a bored look on his face, as his smile came down lightly.

"I am the chosen of Jashin! I am his trustworthy servant! Nothing you can do, no army you can bring, no-one can defeat me! I am Hidan, his first priest!"

Naruto snarled and gave the order, and soon the attackers that had been occupying him dispersed, leaving the place to fifty hand-seals finished clones that spewed out from their mouths blades of wind. At the same time, they launched their swords imbued with fire chakra. The wind passed through the burning chakra blades, and soon it became a volley of deadly pale-blue swords —the majority of which struck their target setting him ablaze.

The blades that the man parried pierced the branch and began a small fire, which quickly began to consume through the wet wood and sparked black plumes of acrid smoke.

The man screamed as the blades that had hit him dispersed in smoke, soon followed by the clones that had launched them. Naruto breathed deeply as his nose took in the smell of charred flesh and pungent burning resin. The man fell dead on the ground, his body still and burned to a crisp. There was no way he'd stand back up from that.

Carefully, he jumped down from his hiding spot and turned to look at his sensei's battle. Wait, why was Ryuzetsu fighting against…

A sharp pain struck and pierced him thrice in the back as blood escaped his mouth copiously as he screamed. The next moment his eyes widened in shock as he watched the charred body of his opponent slowly stand up from where it had fallen, his arm extended —having thrown the scythe at his back— and the charred skin rebuilding itself from sheer nothingness.

With his burnt face and hollow eyes that slowly reformed, he snarled and hissed for a while, before his vocal chords actually returned within his throat.

"_JASHIN GRANTS ME STRENGTH!_"

The man was a monster. He was an S-rank. That…that technique, whatever it was…Naruto's eyes were wide as the man pulled to get the scythe back and he screamed once more as the blades ripped through his flesh and left his body.

The moment the enemy pulled the Scythe from the back of Naruto, Baku coughed and fell face down on the branch, his mask cracked. The shinobi's skin had turned white from black, and as the S-rank shinobi moved closer, Naruto saw his face for a brief moment. He had medium-length silver hair that was slicked back and distinctive purple eyes, the Yugakure forehead protector slung over his neck with a slash.

The man twirled his scythe and brought the blades up to his face, before licking the blood and smirking. "Very good," he grinned, before drawing a circle and a triangle on the spot he was, recreating the strange symbol he had stood on before. "It is time…for Jashin!"

His skin then turned black, like Naruto had seen earlier. The white war paint now appeared clearer to him, who saw a skeleton depicted with the lines. The skeleton seemed to be cackling at him, as…

The shinobi plunged his scythe through the bottom of the pole into his stomach, earning a terrifying scream from Naruto who felt the blow and saw the injury appear, even as he shuddered trying to regain his footing. His vision grew dimmer by the moment, and as he coughed out blood, he wondered where his sand was.

The humidity and the rain still falling probably held it off —and he was way above the ground for it to work.

Then again, he had burnt the man and he hadn't died. Was he immortal? Or maybe…did he have some sort of regeneration?

He pressed his thumb against his wound, grounding his teeth as he watched the S-rank shinobi slowly savour every wound he made on his body —that reflected on his.

The scythe spun as the missing-nin readied to wound his own arm, when Naruto's hand slammed against the branch he stood on. Chakra poured out of his body, as the force of desperation forced him to resort to a summon.

"_I call thee forth, Hagewashi! Bringer of dark omens! I pay your price and together, we shall feast!"_

With a terrifying gust of wind and smoke, the missing-nin flew away from his own circle as the branch cracked and splintered. Blades of wind snapped the wood, tearing apart the tree, which crashed against another one. The thunder came from the sky as the lightning struck a nearby top setting it on fire. Naruto's feet now stood firmly on the back of the leader of the Carrion Eaters, the giant Vulture Hagewashi. Its curved beak was crooked in a smile as it opened its wings mightily and floated away from the fallen tree.

The missing-nin jumped on the tree's trunk, quickly scampering to rise up with his scythe in tow —his skin was once more white.

"_JASHIN WILL HAVE YOU, HEATHEN!_" the S-rank screamed as he twisted his entire body and sent the scythe to slam further up a nearby tree —using it as an impromptu grappling hook to jump higher in the air and reach him.

"_**LET US FEAST!**_" Hagewashi shrieked to the air as he flew beyond the top of the trees, flapping his majestic and powerful raven wings, and taking away with him the thinner branches along his path. He cawed to the heavens, and the sky answered back as black murder of crows rose from the trees. The eyes of the Vulture looked down upon the ground, his nose smelling the blood of his summoner on his back.

The wind blew harshly over Naruto's face, as the hail did not seem to abate at all. The feathers of the lord of the Carrion Eaters were shiny and looked like polished alabaster, and he could feel beneath his feet every single powerful thrust of the muscles that held the vulture aloft. The beady eyes of Hagewashi turned to gaze at him, their shine unmistakeable.

"Who is it that we shall feast upon together, summoner?" he asked.

"Hidan of Yugakure," he croaked out. His eyes looked down to the thick sprawling forest. "He's…an S-rank shinobi. He uses a scythe and if he gets your blood…he does something strange. I tried burning him…but he just regenerates."

"Then let us eat until he can heal no more," Hagewashi shrieked them as he spun in mid-air, before beginning a descent so fast everything looked like a blur to Naruto, who hung with his feet on the back of the giant bird. The murder of crows that had formed around him squawked as it sped to keep up with their impromptu flock-leader. Soon bigger wings belonging to hawks and owls, and other carrion eaters who had come to answer the call of their lord joined them. A tornado of dark beaks and wings passed through the missing-nin —who had stopped climbing the tree and was standing with his scythe ready on one of the taller branches.

"_**JASHIN! GRANT ME STRENGHT**_!" he roared as he spun the scythe in front of him, cutting through the flock as the feathers seemed to stick to his body, matted of blood and bird entrails. Just as with the Kage Bunshin, the birds attacked with no care for their lives, but differently from them the feathers stuck to the skin of the man starting to erode his speed. When Hidan realized that, he tried to move…but it was too late.

This did not stop the assault of the other birds in fact, which instead redoubled their efforts upon seeing he was slowly coming to a halt with his movements. Hagewashi flew down last, slamming his powerful beak against the scythe and earning a shower of sparks as Naruto jumped down from his back with his Yoroi Toshi in hand and ready to attack.

The Yoroi Toshi shone with wind and fire —the pale blue fire that burnt brightly if for an instant— as it suddenly connected with the barbed wire that kept the scythe attached to the enemy. It sliced through it, forming a burning and sizzling gash of charred flesh as the S-rank shinobi moved slightly backwards. It was enough to form a deep gash that burned of blue flames.

"You think this is enough, heathen!? Jashin grants me eternal life! Nothing you can do will ever stop me!"

It was then that the beak of Hagewashi came down again sharply, forcing Hidan to parry it as Naruto pushed through with his own weapon. The raven wings of the giant vulture obscured the view around the two fighters, creating a sort of tight and imprompty arena where the light came in only from above, and only from Hidan's back. Naruto was in the shadows, attacking an enemy he could easily see with the help of the powerful pecking of the giant vulture.

The sizzling of charred flesh increased as Naruto nicked an arm, then the sides. Saliva began to drool down from Hagewashi's mouth —that made the scythe itself sizzle as it was apparently acidic in nature— the smell probably enticing the Vulture to finish this and start gobbling up the enemy.

"_LET GO OF MY SCYTHE YOU FUCKING BIRD!_" Hidan then screamed as the scythe suddenly snapped in two.

The missing nin from Yugakure could sweat that the Vulture was grinning through his eyes as he watched the scythe break. He could swear he could hear the tongue move through the animal's beak like someone waiting to eat a roast.

The flash of pale blue fire that cut through his head on the other hand, that he didn't have to imagine.

The head of the enemy shinobi rolled away from the body and tumbled on the ground, as Hagewashi bit down on the remains of the scythe and flapped his wings, sending inadvertently gusts of winds over the spot Naruto stood. The vulture tore the broken bit with the blades of the scythe away from the headless body, before letting it fly and stick against the surface of a nearby tree. The corpse of the enemy shinobi himself was pushed beyond the edge of the branch, to fall on the ground with a sickening crunch.

"It makes the bones tender," he chuckled with a wicked grin. "Come, summoner…we have to feast." He then cawed as he descended together with his smaller brethren towards the corpse.

Naruto hesitated for a moment, before sharply taking in air and jumping down, to land carefully near the flock of ravens. The man looked pretty much dead now —beheaded and all.

"_**JASHIN! FUCK YOU IN THE NAME OF JASHIN! FUCKER! JASHIN MOTHER—**_" the noise came from a corner of the meadow, where the head was standing spewing curses one after the other. Naruto was startled…how the hell was that thing still alive!?

"_**STOP EATING MY BODY YOU JASHIN-DAMNED BIRDS! STOP! STOP IT!**_" as Hidan screamed, Hagewashi brought up its blood-encrusted beak and looked at him. At least the flesh eaten from the beheaded corpse wasn't regenerating —which meant it probably was the head the source of it all.

"Make way!" he cawed to the smaller crows, who squawked back as they flew to the nearby branches, "For our summoner must feast with us!"

Naruto coughed as he stumbled forward, eyed by the multitude of crows. He wanted to point out that Neko was being attacked nearby, but in the moment, he had the fleeting thought that it was more of a ritualistic thing that had to be done than a mere asking him to eat a corpse.

He unclasped his mask —cracked and half-broken— and let it fall on the ground. His blue eyes looked muddied by the weight of his sins, as deep rings of dark purple clung to them. His whiskers stood pronounced and actual gashes of red fur sprouted from them, he could feel his skin slowly knit itself to a close, as he tasted the bitter taste of blood still in his mouth. He could hear the rattling of the chains deep within himself, but he didn't care. This was something he had to do, for he had called forth the head of the summons…and he would partake in their feast.

Calmly, he dropped down on one knee near the mutilated body of the Jashinist. He wasn't moving —separating the head probably worked then— and the bits eaten…they did not reform, so he had been right...

He slowly pushed his hands in the innards of Hidan's body, and as he heard the cacophony of crows reach to the skies followed by the cawing of Hagewashi himself…

_He shared the first banquet of flesh with his summons._

At the same time, in the nearby camp, a three-way fight was devolving into a scene of death and destruction. Yamato ducked beneath the thunderbolts that launched from Kakuzu's hands, as Ryuzetsu's hand-seals seemed to be forming fire bells that floated in the air before detonating. He was receiving no help from Naruto —wherever he was— which meant that either they took him out earlier or there was a partner. He opted for the latter, and that was confirmed when he heard the sound of Naruto's technique being unleashed further away.

He erected a wall of wooden tendrils to guard against a fire attack that suddenly billowed because of the wind that increased its power. Ryuzetsu emerged first through the crack in the wood wall, sword in hand, as she tried to stab him. He sidestepped the attack and threw a punch of his own; she ducked below, slashing her blade diagonally and forcing him to take a step back. He then moved ahead slamming his right fist against her chest and gripping on the fabric of her vest.

Tendrils of wood erupted from the ground piercing her feet then, before he silenced her permanently with a branch made of wood that sprouted from his hand holding on her vest, which pierced her through it as if it were a deadly steel lance. In that instant, Kakuzu struck with strength against his sides, shattering his left arm and outright _tearing it off_. As he swiftly substituted with a Mokuton Bunshin, holding on to the stump that was his arm —and which he slowly covered in wood to avoid bleeding out— he breathed hard biting down on the screams he wanted to make.

He knew he had lost.

The moment a shinobi was wounded, he began to panic, or if he didn't panic, he still would bleed out. He could withstand the pain and he could avoid bleeding out immediately, but holding on to the stump of his arm and using his wood release to prevent blood loss…it would sap at his chakra.

He couldn't run for long, and he doubted Naruto would be able to survive against Kakuzu on a one-on-one. He had been lucky to take out Ryuzetsu. Without the Anbu Kunoichi —probably a spy for Akatsuki— he had held the hope he could run away and regroup with Naruto. Yet Kakuzu had sacrificed her to get in a nigh mortal blow on him. He gritted his teeth. He was low on chakra, pain and agony were slowly clouding his brain, and he needed a plan.

He could misdirect Kakuzu long enough to land a crippling blow on the stitched man. The man knew more tricks than the Sandaime ever knew, but he _could_ try.

The time it took for him to come up with a plan, Kakuzu had already won.

The stitched up man didn't even break a sweat as he slowly stood to full height —he could hear the stitches from his leg slowly closing as one of the hearts he had on his back had slid down beneath it and through the ground.

The Anbu who resembled Hashirama had been no match for him. He hadn't even needed to hold his breathe at all. When he had fought Hashirama, the first Hokage had used pollens, poisons, techniques that had made the very ground rise to be his enemy. The first Hokage hadn't given him a single instant of time to think, a moment to regroup. Hashirama Senju had been a true shinobi, who was merciless and cunning. He considered it his own pride to have _escaped_ him.

Takigakure hadn't seen it that way —but then again, that was their prerogatives. Rogue element, they had called him. To them, he had acted against orders…when they had _insisted_ he was to complete the mission.

This would be a sort of sweet revenge —even though the Anbu was not of the same rank of Hashirama, it still was a good stand-in.

"Well, have any plans up your sleeve?" he asked the Mokuton bunshin. He knew the man had moved, trying to flank him —he wasn't even trying to run anymore, since he didn't have a chance if he did anyway.

"Can't I just leave with my colleague?"

"Afraid not," he gruffly stated. "Your colleague is ours to collect, and you…I'm killing you for pleasure."

Yamato breathed once, deeply. He clenched his only hand and then he jumped from his hiding spot in the trunk of the tree. If he could get a good enough hit with his left arm —now turned into an impromptu wooden spike— then everything would be…

A white mask appeared covered in a strange amount of dark tendrils in front of him, and as the mouth opened, it unleashed a volley of wind blades.

Yamato's last thought as the blade tore through his body…

Was that he had done his duty to Konoha until his last breath.

A cage of wooden spikes erupted from the ground Kakuzu had stood on, as his mask tore apart the Mokuton Bunshin. The 'Mokuton' bunshin in front of him instead charged ahead, screaming as he slammed his wooden spike through the spot where his 'heart' would be.

Kakuzu's eyes locked with those of the Konoha shinobi who had the same bloodline as Hashirama, and he chuckled as he watched the face of the man morph into one of despair, as he could not remove his hand. The black tendrils that composed much of his body slowly slithered through his broken hand, through his bleeding wound, and kept on moving until they reached their objective.

Kakuzu chuckled as he tore the heart out of the Konoha's nin still alive body, slowly evaluating it before smiling wickedly. He engulfed it, replacing the heart of the Suiton shinobi he had hunted down before as he discarded the rest of the man's corpse as if it were nothing more than a used tool.

Yamato's body fell on the ground with a dull thud, his chest caved open and his heart missing.

Carefully, he felt the chakra adjust to his body as with a single twitch and pulse of chakra, a tree sprouted next to him. Kakuzu smiled.

He laughed aloud then, as he turned ready to gather the other two Jinchuuriki and leave with that insufferable of his teammate. The downpour stopped precisely then as if on cue. In that precise instant, as the water slowly dribbled down the wet trunks and the leaves, Kakuzu's eyes caught the shining black feathers of the crows that hung on all the branches near him.

He would have thought Itachi was nearby, if not for the Vulture in front of him eying him as if he were some sort of delicacy to devour.

"A rotting body…preserved and aged…" its beak was literally oozing saliva. "This summoner…He pleases us more and more!" the Vulture cawed with glee.

Naruto Uzumaki stood with his mouth covered in blood, his breathing hard and ragged. He watched the carnage below him with a sort of cold indifference. He hadn't known Yamato that much. A few months spent walking or running together. He hadn't _trusted_ the man —considering the orders given to him— and…and it didn't hurt at all.

His death was meaningless to him. _It shouldn't have, but it was_.

"Kid, I can't believe you got Hidan," Kakuzu grumbled. "You know they'll fault it on me, right?"

"You killed them?" he asked slowly. He could still feel the blood of Hidan on his tongue —the taste had been rich, like aged wine. The malice devoured had been creamy, as if he had been feasting not on flesh and bones, but…

_But on the very soul he held. _

All of his malice, his misery…he had eaten it, to let the soul go free of sins.

So…so that was _why_.

He could hear the chains rattle. Was the Kyuubi trying to break free? No…it felt different.

He couldn't put his finger on it, but it just felt…_different_.

"I killed the Hashirama brat," he replied with a shrug. "He did kill the woman though," the missing nin from Taki shook his head. "How about I take the seven tails Jinchuuriki with me and we leave it at this? We weren't supposed to get you too."

He looked towards Fu, who was now on the back of Hagewashi —where he had placed her— and then back to Kakuzu who hadn't moved. Therefore, his offer was actually serious, since had he wished to attack then, Naruto doubted he would have been able to dodge it.

There was a moment of tense silence, before Naruto shook his head imperceptibly. "She stays with me," he replied.

"You don't want to do this, kid," Kakuzu pointed out. "Trust me, Taki all but _paid us_ to take her. They gave us your patrol route —why do you think we knew where you were?" he said annoyed. "Give her here and just go somewhere else. Moon country is nice this time of the year, and they have _casinos_."

"So I should betray the village?" he asked in a slow controlled voice.

"Look," Kakuzu replied. "You take her back to your village? Taki and Kusa will try to blame _you_ for having killed everyone and _Konoha_ for wishing to hold the Jinchuuriki of the Nanabi for yourself. They'll secede, and Iwagakure will move in and place them under his own protectorate. Once that happens, they'll declare war on the Land of Fire to get the Jinchuuriki back. Instead, if you let her go to Taki, we'll be taking her anyway later on. Really kid…you have no way of keeping the girl. Find someone else to stave your hormones on."

Naruto ground his teeth. "Why deal at all then?"

"Because I know your eyes kid," Kakuzu said. "I have the same. Fight for the village until you fail, then they'll discard you as a broken tool…that was my fate, and now look at me. I'm in this for _the money_, not for peace or war, or to change the world…money is all I care for."

The light of the moon illuminated the clearing, where the S-rank shinobi watched the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi stand on the back of the king of his summons. Naruto had to decide. He really had no…

"Do you accept techniques as payment?" he slowly asked.

"Uh?" Kakuzu raised an eyebrow.

"I said, do you accept techniques as payment?"

There was another moment of silence. Kakuzu was actually considering the offer? Naruto couldn't believe it but…it had been a far stretch, yet…

"And what would you have for me?" Kakuzu asked. "A Konoha Kinjutsu?"

Naruto closed his eyes, and then opened them again with his hands in a cross-like pattern.

"_Kage Bunshin."_

As a clone appeared next to Naruto, Kakuzu sharply inhaled.

"Oh…" he chuckled. "Ah…" he began to laugh, "Well done kid, really…welcome to the world of shinobi then, of lies and deceits!" he clapped his hands slowly, once, as if to prove a point. "I applaud you! I had no idea you'd have _the guts_ to propose something like that!" he shook his head. "However, that technique would be useless to me…due to reasons I will not tell you."

Naruto swallowed heavily, before carefully commenting.

"What about…the Rasengan?"

"The technique of the Yondaime himself? Only a few know of it…" Kakuzu closed his eyes, "Yes, I could market that...if anything, I think I'd actually be the one gaining a lot out of it…" the man chuckled as he opened his eyes again. "You have yourself a deal," Naruto nodded and created a Kage Bunshin, in that moment, Kakuzu remarked.

"Open the scroll first, because you have a scroll of the technique, right?"

Naruto swallowed and nodded, unclasping the scroll from his vest's pouch and opening it.

"Now give it to your clone, and let him walk forward with it, the ink side directed towards me. If it's genuine, we'll finish the deal."

This was outright betrayal to the village, but then again nobody knew he had such a scroll —and he had already learned what he could from it. The Kage Bunshin grimaced and nodded, before jumping down and slowly walking forward. In that moment, Kakuzu peered with his eyes at the scroll's Kanji and images.

Yes, it looked genuine.

"Very well," he remarked. "You can fly away…"

Hagewashi did just that, taking with him both Fu and Naruto, who held tightly on with the Jinchuuriki of the Nanabi in his arms. He swallowed the lump that was forming on the back of his throat as the powerful raven wings of the lord of the Carrion Eaters brought him to safety.

Five minutes later, and the Kage Bunshin dispersed, delivering on to him a plethora of information.

"_Don't go immediately," Kakuzu told him. "First, seal the corpse of your sensei and his possessions, unless there is something of value you wish to keep on your person. In which case, use one of your lesser summons to hold on to it and carry it back to your real self." _

_Naruto blinked. "Wh…Why are you helping me?"_

"_I know your eyes, kid," Kakuzu replied. "You can hide them, you can claim it was a mistake or an error later on, but the moment you accepted to exchange this scroll, this technique…the moment you accepted the easy way out, that was the moment you truly became a shinobi. We don't fight for honour or some horse-crap bullshit like loyalty. We're shinobi. We fight for money. We bleed and kill for money and power. I learned this a long time ago…and now, now I'll teach it to you: with money, you can't buy friends…but you can buy shinobi to kill your enemies. With money, you can't buy freedom, but you can buy shinobi to kill your jailers. With money, you can't buy love, but you can buy a shinobi to kill your rivals. Shinobi are creatures of greed and wants. We don't have a soul: we sold it to the devil. We don't have honour: we exchanged it for victory. We don't have darkness…we aren't evil. We simply…are."_

_Kakuzu took a small breath. "We are not monsters, but shinobi. We are not evil demons, but shinobi. We are not heroes of justice or avengers, but shinobi. Shi-Nobi. Many will tell you that we have the Kanji for Endure, because we endure…those are liars. We are Shinobu, those who conceal themselves, who do things secretly, who steal...and yet, Shi-Nobu can also be considered as the two words for 'Death' and 'Faith'...or 'Death' and 'Extend'. We are those who have faith that death shall come, or those that extend death onto others. We have no peace of mind, no sin to which we will not lower ourselves…and of today, I can expect your bounty to rise, Naruto Uzumaki…or should I say Naruto Namikaze?"_

_He began to walk away. "Do not betray my expectations, kid. When the time comes, and I will arrive to collect your bounty…I will demand a battle on par with Hashirama's strength…Only then," he whispered as he left, "will I be satisfied."_

His clone had summoned a small crow to carry the scroll containing the rests of all the 'victims', as Naruto realized when said animal came flapping by. Even the head of Hidan had been sealed and delivered, and as the crow cawed to him, he opened his mouth, to let him feast on the bits of flesh that had stuck to his teeth.

He didn't even find this disgusting any more.

_He was a shinobi after all_.

_Born of darkness._

_Tempered in blood._

_Bringer of pain._

As the Nanabi Jinchuuriki moved in his arms, her wounds slowly healing, he truly didn't know what he was doing. He was returning to Konoha, but how would they actually take it? Would a war really be unleashed? He had to doubt it. If nothing happened to Fu, she would be able to explain the truth. And really, why would they change one protector for another?

Orochimaru looked with indifference at the tank filled with water that was Suigetsu. The bloodline ninja was looking back at him with disdain, but he wouldn't care less.

"I need you to do something for me, Suigetsu," he calmly remarked.

"Fuck you," Suigetsu replied. Really, that was within normal parameters.

"Hebi? Push the purple button," he said to his assistant, who quickly obeyed. An electrical discharge ran through the water, making the goo-man scream in pain. "Push it again, just to be sure…"

Another scream.

"Stop it! You mad bastard!"

"I take offense in that, Hebi, the red one if you'd please?"

"Hey…wait, what is this yellow…no! Yuck! No…get me out of here! Where the hell…argh! It's…it's piss! You motherfucking bastard!"

"Now, Suigetsu…I loved my mother very much," he looked at Hebi. "Would you kindly push the green button, Anko dear?"

Hebi obeyed immediately.

The water slowly began to boil. "Argh! All right! I give! Orochimaru-sama! Stop it! Orochimaru-sama! St…"

A tank of gas soon substituted what had been Suigetsu, which after pushing a pale blue button moved through a set of tubes all the way towards a small iron barrel that Hebi hastily closed a moment later at Orochimaru's orders.

"It's dark in here!" Suigetsu remarked from within the barrel.

"Good," Orochimaru smiled as he patted Hebi on the head. "Now let's go. We have to deliver a bloodline user to Kirigakure, so that their Mizukage might find true love and ignore him making a strike at Zabuza…Zabuza Momochi," he actually shook the metal barrel for a moment, as within Suigetsu began to curse loudly.

"Why didn't you say that sooner you mad bastard!?"

The sound of the water inside sloshing around made Orochimaru smirk…there was no need to waste time with petty details. "Oh and Anko? Well done," he said turning his golden eyes towards his prized pupil, who nodded meekly.

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama."

Sakura watched dispassionately as the Tora mask she had worn until then turned to dust. She had made her choice. She wasn't fit for Anbu work —she couldn't stomach it. They had let her go with the mere warning of never speaking of what she had done, and she left it at that.

She trudged through the steps up to Naruto's apartment —that she had decided to keep tidy in wait for his return. She had sold the bakery of her parents, but she had kept the house. Shinobi weren't taxed to begin with, so it wasn't as if she suddenly had to pay more than usual.

Her emerald gaze lingered tiredly towards Naruto's bed. The clothes he had left behind, she had scattered around his sheets. She dropped her chuunin flak jacket on the ground and slowly made her way to the middle of them. They smelled of him, and that calmed her down.

She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, letting the tiredness that was weighing down on her limbs slowly seep through. Eight months had passed, and still she hadn't heard from Naruto.

She wasn't worried, but with every day she began to dread. Sure, it could be a year, rather than eight months, but…

She missed Sai too, albeit slightly less. She embraced firmly one of Naruto's shirts to her chest, and then contently fell asleep, with a small smile on her face.

The door of Naruto's apartment opened quietly, as a blood-soaked figure stepped inside. Sakura's eyes opened immediately. She sniffed the air, before narrowing her gaze and steeling her resolve, as she deftly and quietly jumped down from the sheets and crouched. Someone was inside the house.

And that someone reeked of blood.

Carefully she pried open the door of his bedroom, her gaze going to the other open door in the apartment. The one of the bathroom was slightly ajar, and from where she heard the sounds of someone turning on the water. Her breath hitched. Could he have…

She quickly spun around and looked at the state his room was in: she brought both hands to her face and took a deep calming breath, before quickly dashing around placing the shirts and the trousers back in their places, turning crimson at the sight of a couple of underwear. What had she been thinking!?

He was going to think she was a pervert —that was what!

She'd blame Sai. _Yes, Shannaro_!

He was always acting like a pervert: it felt right to return the favour.

She nervously ended up sitting at the wood chair of the table in the kitchenette, her hands clasped firmly against her thighs.

Today was the day Naruto would tell her if he loved her or not.

Her heart was already beating furiously.

Her cheeks were red.

And as the figure emerged from the steam of the bathroom…

**Author's notes**

**Cliff-Hanger.**

**Little note (I'll try and make it as short as possible)**

**I cannot come up with a reason why Hidan is S-rank.**

**He's a one-trick pony. Jiraiya with a summon would have done the same. (maybe that explains how Shikamaru defeated him too)**

**I tried to make a battle worthy of his rank…but really, he's a one-trick pony. I did what I could.**

**This was meant to tie with canon, since it's the moment when the zombie duo goes for Fu. **

**I know many wanted her eaten. Which is why I'm actually wondering if I'm creating cannibals out of my readers today.**

**Rest in Pieces Ryuzetsu and Yamato. Your death was not in vain. You opened the road to the new arc. **

**Naruto's loss of innocence is complete. He is now a true shinobi. **


	47. The Realization of the Rotten World

Introverted

Chapter Forty-Seven

Baku watched the form of Fu stir, as Hagewashi slowly lowered in altitude at the border with Konoha. Flapping its majestic wings, the Vulture landed in a clearing in the midst of a forest. Naruto jumped down, holding Fu with his own arms and cradling her lithe body as if she were a child.

He nodded to his summon, who smiled and opened his wings one last time, before completely hiding his body with them and disappearing in a twirl of dark feathers. Naruto blinked. He would ask the Vulture how he managed to make such a stylish disappearance later. As it was, he was tired enough that he simply sliced a couple of branches from the nearby trees and hoisted Fu up with him.

He lowered her with her back against the tree's trunk on one of the thickest branches then, using the smaller ones as a makeshift camouflage. Grabbing the spare sheets, he huddled closer to the sleeping Jinchuuriki of the seven tails, and with her head drooping over his chest —he supposed it was instinct— he fell asleep.

Rattling chains met his eyes as he watched the water around the two Bijuu tied together evaporate slowly. The golden chains that held them both ensnared, and that gained strength from them, looked twisted with red and golden hooks. Where the two masses should have pressed together there was no longer a difference —it was as if the two chakra constructs were merging.

He couldn't see where the skin of the 'rotten' Ichibi began and where it merged with the matted crimson fur of the Kyuubi any longer. Slowly, the chains were constricting and forcing the two to bind together. Mito Uzumaki was nearby, watching over the chains with a careful and emotionless look.

She turned her stern eyes to him, and her face softened slightly.

"Nephew," she said calmly, her gaze returning then to the trapped demons. "What brings you here?"

"I had a question," he whispered as he walked forward, his gaze fixed on one of the crimson eyes of the Kyuubi. The Kyuubi looked back at Naruto with a strange glaze over his eyes —not of hate, or of respect. It was mostly of sadness, as if whatever thing had to happen had just gone by. "Can you set me free?"

"_One day, you will wake up and see the truth as I see it. That day, you will realize that my words are the only truth in the world. That moment, that precise instant, you will come to me again and you will ask me 'set me free' and I will answer you, rest assured, that to set you free you will have to pay me."_

"Nephew?"

Mito's face was perplexed as Naruto ignored her, walking closer to where the giant fox's snout was. He looked at the rattling chains, and then at the crimson eyes of the beast.

"You knew all of this would happen, didn't you? You are the bearer of all malice, so all plans of evil flow in you…tell me, Kurama… Is there no peace, in the world? Is there no hope?" he murmured, stroking the fur near the nose of the Kyuubi, who was breathing slowly and deeply —releasing gushes of hot air.

"Everyone is selfish in your eyes," he added then. "Even those who help others, they are selfish towards their souls," Naruto looked thoughtful, as he gave a pat on the side of the Kyuubi's face. "I understand now what you were trying to tell me. I understand what you meant back then with shackles and chains. You were just looking out for me, weren't you?" Naruto shook his head slowly.

"Your words, back then… I should have listened," he admitted then. He chuckled bitterly. "_I should have listened_." He repeated that as he turned to leave. The Kyuubi did nothing but stare at him, yet there was no need for words.

_"You can hide your head beneath the sand, you can close your eyes and press a hand to your mouth, but in the end…in the end truth is inevitable."_

"I know it means nothing," he croaked as he left. "But…_I'm sorry_," and with a bow, Naruto left. His eyes opened to the curious golden ones of Fu, who was staring at him with concentration. He was without a mask —something which he would have to remedy— and as he looked back at the Jinchuuriki of the Seven Tails, he really had no idea what he was going to do.

She took the decision out of his hands, because her lips crashed down against his roughly, as her tongues snaked inside his mouth. He widened his eyes for a fraction, as he felt her hands roam around his body to remove his vest and reach for his chest frantically.

There was a moment of silence as Fu detached her lips from his, her breathing hard and her gaze still fixed on him. He swallowed nervously, as he realized the girl was catching her breath slowly.

"You saved me," she whispered with a cracked voice. Her hands remained on his naked chest. "Thank you," there were tears in her eyes.

"Eat me, please?" she asked then slowly, nuzzling her face against the side of his neck, nibbling on it and making him groan…not in pain, however.

"I…I mean…" he swallowed once more. His breathing grew ragged.

"Let's eat together?" her voice was so filled with _despair_, how could he ignore her? How could he ignore her _misery_? He could not. He truly couldn't.

He grabbed her by the shoulders roughly and pushed her to his side. She made an excited giggle as he felt something stir within him, something that…

He stopped. He exhaled. He cupped the girl's cheek as he watched her _cry_. He kissed her back gently on the forehead, and then encircled her with his arms. He let her head recline against his bare chest, feeling her soft cheek and her fingers on his stomach. He carefully grabbed her roaming hand and held it close to his heart, before whispering.

"It's all right," he croaked. "We'll…we'll eat together a lot in Konoha, really."

She blinked once, looking at him. "Really?"

"Yes," he nodded awkwardly. "I swear it…and I never go back on my promises."

"Ah," Fu made an awkward pause. Her face then lit up like a Christmas tree, and she smiled before nuzzling her cheek against his chest. Naruto sighed as the girl fell asleep a moment later.

He had been so close to…

To what?

He looked at the darkening sky ahead of him…_how_ was he going to explain this?

Especially to Sakura, of all people?

He shuddered then.

_He was so dead_.

Elsewhere, in an inn deeply settled within the land of Water, Sai looked with a half bored and half-surprised look at his master's recent work. Jiraiya of the Sannin cackled madly —in a perfect imitation of a mad genius who had just found inspiration— as he raised his hands to the skies with an art book completed.

"_**IT'S ALIVE!**_" Jiraiya screamed laughing —outside, the Kiri weather had already produced lightning and thunder to suit the mood. "My ultimate work! _ICHA-ICHA CATCH SOME TAILS, ULTRA SEXY EDITION WITH PICTURES INCLUDED!"_

Sai blinked. He was sure the dark foreboding chill that was settling in his spine wasn't for the written book, but for the artwork. He wondered why his master had asked him to draw a male protagonist with blond hair and blue eyes and a female with tanned skin and green hair. Then again, he supposed his master had such bouts of inspiration often.

"Come, Sai!" Jiraiya said with blood gushing down from his nose in copious rivers. "For tonight we call my editor, and tomorrow we dine in hell!" his laughter grew madly as he headed over to the inn's concierge, to use the telephone. Sai followed quietly.

He wondered if he hadn't unleashed a monster…no, actually, Sai wondered if he hadn't gifted to the Sannin a more powerful mean to rule the minds and the…lower parts, of men.

What monster had he created?

Sai sweatdropped as he looked at himself in the mirror of the hallway. He hadn't changed much in a year —if not for the addition of a red mantle over his shoulders to imitate his master somewhat with the colour palette. It also helped to hide parchment and scrolls.

As he watched, Jiraiya wobbled and yelled for sakè. He shook his head once more; the man was truly a disgrace to shinobi around the world, and yet…yet his antiques made his lips twitch funnily upwards. It was nice.

He just couldn't wait to go back to Konoha now.

Hinata Hyuga watched with uncaring and cold eyes the demons walking around. She kept her Byakugan active always, to be able to see who was a demon and who wasn't. If they twitched in a certain way, if they acted in another…every day, the range of her Byakugan grew. Now she could easily see through at least five blocks worth of distance from her room in the hospital —where the demons had trapped her.

She ignored them —the crying face of her sister was the most problematic, but she always managed it. Her father just sternly told her to stop this madness, but she wasn't the one mad: they were the ones who had been eaten by the demons. The nurse was kind enough to tell her that she had been right all along.

In fact, the Nurse had told her that Konoha brimmed with demons, and that they had already tried to save her once. Of course, she hadn't believed her immediately. Then she had remembered the way the Kumogakure shinobi had tried to kidnap her, how it seemed strange that the high ambassador of Kumo would go to such lengths —with risking peace and whatnot. And then it became clear.

Kumo had seen Konoha for the den of demons it was, and they had tried to save her —by killing the demon who was supposed to take her place and eat her from the inside— and had done something to prevent another demon from sticking in her.

It seemed so farfetched, but…it could only be the truth. The demons weren't eating her because they wanted her body to produce more offspring. Then, they'd use her children to make more demons.

She had been righteously enraged at that.

Soon, any day now, she would leave with the kind nurse lady. They had planned a great way to escape: she would go to a special side of the hospital, where normally 'mad-people' went. There, they'd camouflage her and then head out for a trip.

She was sort of nervous —leaving Konoha seemed so difficult— but the kind lady had told her there were more 'fighters of demons' around the land of fire and her help was needed. Even if she couldn't walk, she could still help the rebels. Then, when the demons would be struck down…they'd hail her as a heroine.

Hinata smiled at the thought. Soon, soon she was going to leave Konoha.

"I'll make you proud, Naruto-kun," she whispered to herself. "I'll never give up, just you wait."

Shikamaru looked bored as he fiddled with his Chuunin flak jacket. He eyed the rest of his team with a sigh, before nodding to himself. He could do this.

Chouji was feasting —as usual. Ami was showing off the white skin of her cleavage pretty well. She had taken to the arts of Kunoichi…which were 'showing off skin and whoring' _pretty well_ too. She was wearing a sort of long silk one-piece red dress with a floral golden motif. Her hair was long and reached her back to the shoulders. She was sweetly smiling towards Chouji, doing her best to hide the look of disgust on her face.

Their sensei was taking another cigarette out and smoking on it lazily, as they watched the road in their boring daylong patrol on the road towards Konoha. All around the village were hidden tree houses, where Shinobi stood guard every now and then for long days —in one of the most boring examples of C-rank ever— in case some brigand or troublemaker came a bit too close to discovering the village.

Very few civilians came to the village to outright 'ask' for help. The majority remained in their towns all across the land of fire, and a courier ninja passed once every week to look through the requests, get half of the payment, and then send the missions back to the village through hawk mail.

It wouldn't be a '_Hidden_ Village' if _everyone_ could find out where it was hidden.

It was no use trying to hide it from other shinobi —everyone knew the general location of any other Hidden village with ease, since decades of spying and counter-spying made it possible— but the new generations of farmers, of citizens of the capital or of towns and cities? They didn't know, and they would keep up 'not knowing' until the end of times.

"What a drag," Shikamaru snorted softly. "I should have brought the Shogi board."

Asuma hummed his approval. "This gives you time to think," the Sarutobi heir remarked offhand, "about a lot of things."

"Like what?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, his bored eyes lingering for a moment on his sensei's face.

"What to do, when to do it, how to do it," Asuma sighed. "Some downtime never hurt anyone."

"Munch, munch," Chouji muttered. "You think," the Akimichi munched down once more, "Everything will be fine?"

"Uh?" Ami raised an eyebrow. "What about?"

"I don't know," the boy shrugged, "I just…felt a chill."

Asuma looked perplexedly towards his Genin, before turning a thoughtful glance at the road. There was nothing for miles and miles…except maybe a slight sparkling thing at the horizon, which suddenly disappeared. He narrowed his eyes for a moment. It had looked like a sort of mirror of glass…but then again, why would a mirror of glass appear suddenly in the middle of a road and disappear afterwards?

"Muh, Chouji!" Ami exclaimed angrily, snapping his thoughts back to the girl in question. "Do you really have to always eat? You'd be sort-of cute if you just stopped."

Chouji frowned for a moment —a moment without munching— before returning to his chips. "Want a chip?"

"No!" Ami huffed. "Why couldn't I remain with a hunk? Why did I have to be saddled with such a team of deadbeats and f—"

"Shut it, Ino!" Shikamaru barked back at the girl in question, whose eyes widened comically. Shikamaru groaned and clenched his fists for a moment, before sighing. The Nara could feel the gaze of his sensei on him, and swiftly looked outside once more. "Sorry, Ami."

"Ah…I understand," Ami muttered, flicking a lock of her hair —blonde now— behind her ear. She bit on her lips carefully, looking aside too.

Asuma sighed, and then rolled his eyes. He cleared his throat and commented. "How about, when this boring mission is over, we all go for barbeque at Yakiniku?"

"Yes! Sensei, you're the best!" Chouji said first with glee, stopping his munching of chips for the moment. Shikamaru just kept on looking outside, exhaling. His eyes looked at the clouds, white, fluffy…some shaped like birds, other like houses or faces.

It was as he was just about to reply with 'what a drag' that his eyes caught the sight of a humongous flock of birds in the air. Was it migratory season already? He watched the black feathered birds fly high in the sky, without a care in the world. They passed high above them, and as he was about to turn and look inside the hut, he heard something drip down on the wooden ledge of the window.

He looked surprised.

There was a single crimson dot on the wood surface now —one that looked eerily like blood…

"Stupid birds," he mumbled as he moved to another corner of the tree house.

Tobi was not pleased.

Itachi was beyond furious.

Orochimaru was not on the Land of Sky. He was not in any of the Akatsuki bases and thus was officially off the radar. He was on a 'mission' for Pain. To attack the snake sannin, it required years of preparation to prepare the terrain, the land —every little detail had to be _perfect_. Sure, the Sharingan could probably work much better in containing the threat, but it would still be a tough battle because the Sannin _never_ played fair at all.

Tobi was seething as he looked at the maps in Orochimaru's quarters in the land of the sky. The maps were probably a misdirection of some sort, knowing the Sannin.

Two points however stood on the map highlighted as secondary options. Two points too many…as there were only two conspirators against him. Of course, Tobi could claim being paranoid —there simply were two yellow points on a map, there really was no need to see things in it…except with Orochimaru.

If Orochimaru drew a triangle on the dirt…_there_ _was a reason_. If Orochimaru danced and sang in a bar, _there was a reason_. Orochimaru was a creature of Logic beyond Logic. As a shinobi looked 'Underneath the Underneath' he went beyond the call. He looked to the Sides of the Underneath of the Beyond of the Post-Past of the Underneath…and each gaze was booby-trapped, each incorrect answer brought pain and death. Orochimaru was the most logical _monster_ ever to live, and the most maddening example of madness.

One point would send someone to the depths of Kirigakure —which was a suicide attempt for anyone, considering the rebellion finished and all. The other point however would send the individual to a certain 'Star Village'. In one circumstance the mission was to 'sow chaos'; in the other it was to 'steal a star'.

He could see the logic behind the first steps of Orochimaru's thoughts process. He, Tobi, was the one who had controlled Yagura up until that moment. He could 'teleport' to Kiri with ease, and if he sent Itachi to investigate the Star Village then he would split his forces. If the opposite happened, then Itachi would probably arrive to Kiri too late to stop the snake sannin.

Orochimaru wanted him, Tobi, to reach Kirigakure.

There was no guarantee the snake sannin would be there. There was no way to predict how 'sowing chaos' would work for the man's mind. He was the one who could provide support to Itachi —the opposite wasn't true. So it would be best to send Itachi where the sannin was supposed to be, rather than where he wasn't.

Once more, that brought forth the problem…

Where had Orochimaru gone?

He slammed his fist on the map; he looked at all the arrows, the dots, the lines…the scribbled notes…he shuddered and brought his hand beneath his mask to clench his temples and stave off the headache he was feeling.

Orochimaru was somewhere in the Elemental Countries.

He had taken his assistant with him.

This wasn't a matter of _where_ _he_ _was_ supposed to be, but of where he _wasn't_ supposed to be.

Tobi's eyes snapped open immediately, as he looked towards the only piece of the map that the lines, the arrows, the question marks and the notes overlooked.

Tobi whispered the name softly, his index pointed trembling towards the small piece of land.

"_Uzushiogakure, the Land of Whirlpools…"_

Itachi snapped his eyes up from the map. "Why? There is nothing…"

"Nothing of interest and nothing of value, nothing at all that we could see and grasp…that…that would be the perfect place _Orochimaru would not go_," Tobi whispered.

"Why there though? Why not Iwa, or Ame, or…the Land of Iron? Why not the Land of This or 'That'? Isn't a meeting supposed to begin soon?"

"The Hokage will send the Jinchuuriki and his team as her escort guards," Tobi remarked dryly. "That's a given to show off. The other lands would be suitable, but they are also close to places of interest —too close for Orochimaru's taste probably."

"Probably?"

"With Orochimaru you can never be certain, kid," Tobi snapped back. "Uzushio has nothing of interest: scavengers picked it dry years ago, but it just might _hold a secret_, one or two, that Orochimaru knows and we know not of."

"This is like chasing shadows," Itachi remarked.

"Chasing Kage, eh?" Tobi chuckled. "For all circumstances…you might as well think of it like that."

In the end, Obito Uchiha nodded and rolled the map. "Itachi? You head towards the land of Iron, where the Kage will hold their meeting," he muttered. "I'll be going to Uzushiogakure first. If I miss him there, you'll hold him off."

"Why the land of Iron?"

"Apparently…Orochimaru has his own agenda," Obito remarked dryly. "But then again…who doesn't?"

With those cryptic words, he disappeared in the air.

Itachi narrowed his eyes on the room for a moment more, and then stepped outside. His feet took him towards the edge of the land of sky, as he bit his thumb to call forth a crow and fly away. His gaze settled on the buildings that once had been but ruins, his eyes morphing into the sharingan.

He memorized their layout, their position. He looked where their dormitories were, where the shinobi lived and where the civilians who worked in the pits of the land went. As the giant crow flew with him on his back, Itachi brought up the Akatsuki cloak to cover the lower side of his face. Blood slowly dripped down his mouth, as he held the scream in the back of his head.

He would sacrifice everything, gladly, repeatedly. He would pay the ultimate sin again, if only…if only peace… why the men and women, why the shinobi…why could they not see? Could they not hear the screams of the dead? Could they not hear the laments of the widows? The tears of the children? _**COULD THEY NOT HEAR THEM YELL!? **_

Bloody stumps and muffled screams echoed in his head, as the blue sky seemed to mock him with his brightness. The face of Shisui, _looking_ at him and _smiling_ as he gave up his eye to him was all he saw.

_"Self-sacrifice… A nameless shinobi who protects peace within its shadow… That is a true shinobi."_

Even if the Devil ate his soul at the end of his life…he would keep on offering it. Even if pain would be the only coin he'd receive…he would still keep on doing this…

For he was a _Shinobi_.

And he would _endure_.

Sakura's eyes snapped open, wide as saucers, as the figure that emerged from the bathroom…was a naked _Sasuke_.

She blinked. "Sa…suke?"

His eyes —raven and shiny— looked at her as he smiled. He even had the type of abs she had only seen on those 'for shinobi' magazines —by chance only— that were sold —just so casually— at the newspaper booth.

He smiled at her with a perfect bright smile, and then swayed his hips as he walked forward to reach for her chin with his hand.

"I love you, my Cherry Blossom…"

She woke up suddenly, her eyes open as she looked around. Naruto's bed was still the same mess she had left it in, and she had apparently fallen asleep on his clothes once more. She sighed. What did Sasuke have to do now with her dreams? Naruto-smelling things surrounded her, so why did she dream of Sasuke?

It had been _months_ since she had last seen the Uchiha. She knew he had moved to the Inuzuka compound for this or that reason —it wasn't specified— but why did her treacherous brain decide to dream of the Uchiha?

Maybe…maybe it was because she had never really gone over her crush for him? No, that was silly. She shook her head firmly as she stretched and hopped off the bed, before heading out of his room and towards the bathroom. It was empty and unused. She sighed. It had all been a dream then.

She actually wondered how Naruto would look like naked, and that made her cheeks heat and burn as if on fire.

She wasn't a pervert…that was supposed to be Sai's area!

Sakura exited Naruto's apartment quietly, closing the door behind her. She proceeded to walk towards the gates —her second destination every time she could— and then settle on a bench nearby in wait. She watched the flickers of the Anbu who all had to pass through the gates rather than above them —for security reasons— and the teams that left and returned. Standing in her Chuunin jacket, sitting and with nothing more to do —and even slightly sleepy from the previous power nap— she looked up to the sky bored.

The clouds were white and fluffy, and they looked like marshmallows. The sun was already way beyond the summit, which meant she had skipped lunch —she shouldn't have, lunch was important.

Her gaze went to the gates —that were now closing. One more day had gone by without Naruto or Sai returning home. She sighed and brought a lock of her pink hair behind her right ear, as she huffed in displeasure. She was just about to leave when she saw the gates still in their closing. A pair of figures dashed in abruptly, leaving behind a trail of dust as they settled a few steps past the gates.

She watched with curiosity the duo. One was an Anbu with a Neko-like mask, while the other was a tanned girl holding on to a Takigakure forehead protector and with a red cylindrical object strapped to her back. Her ninja outfit consisted of a short sleeveless white midriff shirt with fishnet armour underneath, long white armlets, and fishnet shorts with a short white apron skirt over it.

Her belly button showed terribly, just like the start of her hips…

The Anbu instead flashed a set of recognizable signs that showed him as a member of the Konoha forces, which immediately eased up the guards at the gate. Sakura could smell the thick scent of blood on both of them —especially from the Neko figure.

It was as they moved closer that she realized the 'Neko' mask was actually mismatched. The lower half was that of the Baku mask, but the upper one instead belonged to a Neko —as if the mask had broken in the midst of the Anbu's mission and had been glued back to functionality with another.

"We'll eat together again tonight, then?" the girl with pale green hair said to the Anbu masked shinobi, as they passed right next to her.

The 'Neko-Baku' nodded back.

She frowned, but ignored the two in favour of going to Hebi —she would have dinner and then, probably, she'd go back to sleeping at Naruto's apartment.

Naruto hadn't wanted to ignore Sakura.

Yet…yet he knew the girl would want an answer from him and his mind had everything inside but a 'yes' or a 'no'. He was gritting his teeth behind his impromptu mask as he took the stairs up the Hokage tower. Hagewashi had left them at the border with Konoha, and he had run the rest of the way with Fu in tow. The girl had…well, it was no use speaking about it.

She had been scared. He had been under pressure. Stupid things had happened.

He wasn't going to make the same mistake again. Getting closer to someone who was broken…it never ended well, yet not getting closer ended worse.

He jumped on a nearby rooftop, as Fu followed him like a puppy. He reached for the Hokage tower and entered, taking the stairway that led him just outside the office. He could hear the cries of 'Tsunade-sama, the paperwork!' and the snorting of 'Shizune, not now!'

He knocked thrice, before entering as the Hokage barked permission to come in.

As he stepped inside, he looked at the dark haired woman with long sleeves that had treated him at the hospital and at the blond haired Hokage. Shizune was holding a stack of papers, while the Godaime was holding on to a bottle of sake.

The amber eyed Hokage raised an eyebrow.

"I don't recall sending an Anbu out…on an escort mission."

"Permission to remove the mask?" Naruto said, with his voice tight.

Tsunade sobered up immediately, before giving him a curt nod.

She did not ask Fu to leave, because probably the Godaime had already realized the mask had broken during the mission, and the girl had seen the face beneath it during the time it had taken the 'operative' to repair it.

When the mask came down, the fifth Hokage's eyes widened imperceptibly. "Where is Neko?" she asked carefully. "And you are supposed to be on patrol…"

"We were attacked," Naruto replied as he unclasped a set of scrolls from his chest. "He did not survive. Ryuzetsu of Kusagakure was a traitor working for Akatsuki," Tsunade sharply breathed at those words. "Kakuzu of Taki and Hidan of Yuga attacked us. Their objective was the capture of Fu, the Jinchuuriki of the Nanabi," his eyes went to the green haired girl, who made a cheerful smile and waved her hand.

"Hidan engaged Fu and me in battle, and after he overpowered Fu, I managed to defeat him with my summons," Naruto droned on, "Kakuzu of Taki instead retreated by the time I went in to assist Neko with my summons. The man probably was wounded by the fight —I do not know of another reason why he would leave otherwise." The fact no Yamanaka would be able to verify if he was telling the truth was just a boon, really. "I recovered the bodies of Ryuzetsu, who I had seen attacking Neko, and my Anbu partner as well as Hidan's…well, talking and living head?"

Tsunade brought both eyebrows up exponentially.

"Excuse me?"

Naruto shuddered as he carefully placed a scroll on the desk of the woman. He unrolled it fully, and then poured enough chakra in it to unseal the object within.

A head with grey hair appeared…and soon began to talk.

"_**YOU MOTHERFUCKING HEATHENS! JASHIN WILL HAVE YOUR LIVES YOU SCUMBAGS AND—**_" the smoke cleared.

"_**WOW TITTY LADY! I'll CHEW ON THEM WITH MY TEETH IF I—"**_

Tsunade sealed the head a second later, sporting an angry tick mark.

"I see…" she hissed. "Well, why did you not proceed to Takigakure then?"

"I heard Kakuzu taunt Neko about it," he replied in a meek tone. "My hearing is pretty sharp…he claimed Takigakure actually paid Akatsuki to get rid of their Jinchuuriki. I could not risk it being true, and Kakuzu actually being there."

Tsunade mulled it over for a moment, before giving a curt nod. "You did well. I suppose you can give me a written report tomorrow. Concerning the Jinchuuriki of the Nanabi instead…" her eyes travelled to Fu, who fidgeted before clasping with her hesitant fingers the hem of the fabric of Naruto's cloak. "You're responsible for her while in Konoha, understood?"

Naruto nodded firmly. "Understood."

"Then you're dismissed," Tsunade exhaled. "Now I'll have to call the council and send a message to Taki…ah," as Naruto was already leaving, the voice of the Godaime stopped him. "Congratulations are in order, I suppose."

He turned his cerulean gaze to the Godaime, who merely smiled. "The last message Neko sent was of his trust in your regards."

He could feel his tongue fill with _ashes_. He swallowed the ashes together with the scream he would have liked to yell, and curtly nodded once more. "I hereby enter you in the Anbu of Konoha," she smiled. "When off duty, your rank will be Tokubetsu Jounin until you pass the Jounin exam, which is held…well, that's part of the test too," Tsunade sighed. "I'll make the appropriate change of permits for the library and the mission roster. More paperwork for me…" she mumbled, "And I _expect_ you to be ready at the end of the week for an S-rank mission of protection and escort."

His eyebrows both rose up. S-rank? Him?

"You have proven yourself, Naruto Uzumaki," Tsunade said, her eyes twinkling slightly. "Or should I say Naruto Namikaze?"

He smiled briefly. "I'll take whatever name you want me to take," he shrugged. "For the mask?"

"Your Baku identity was…broken," her eyes went to Fu who just kept on shyly smiling towards her while keeping most of her body hidden by Naruto's frame. "I'll give you a new mask before we depart."

"We?"

"The S-rank mission is to escort me to the Kage Summit which will take place in the Land of Iron," Tsunade replied. Her eyes locked with those of Fu once more, "And it will be a good way to solve another problem."

"Understood."

With that, Naruto left with Fu in tow. They stepped outside, him without his mask to cover his features and Fu still hesitating a bit as she followed him. She had a nasty scar on the side of her belly, where Hidan's scythe had sliced through her. The fact it hadn't become infected was probably because of the Nanabi —a normal shinobi would have made a trip to the hospital first, rather than report to the Hokage.

There was silence as he stepped into his apartment, gesturing for Fu to hit the shower while he looked for some clean clothes in his room. He was surprised to find a veritable mess —as if someone had been sleeping on them. He shook his head and carefully folded a couple of them —maybe he had forgotten about putting them back in the dresser after taking a change for the mission.

He grabbed a long sleeved shirt and a pair of gym shorts. He doubted Fu was used to boxers, but then again it was better than letting her go…the term was _Commando_, was it?

He stepped into the bathroom for but a moment, to drop her clothes, when he caught the glimpse of scars on the back of the tanned girl's skin. There were seven scars, three per side and one perpendicular to them near her…ass…_well-toned ass_, to say the least.

She was humming as she washed herself, and even as heat rose to Naruto's cheeks —probably because of the steam and the hot water, he couldn't help but think there was a story behind those scars.

_Misery. It hurts! Please stop! No! They're my wings! Don't take away my wings, please! I'll be good! I just want to fly! Please…sob…mommy, please…not with the knife…it hurts._

He flinched and recoiled as if struck, bringing a hand to his mouth to hold on to the bile that menaced to leave it. The images…he felt sick. He slowly left the bathroom, opening the fridge of the kitchen and giving an exasperated sigh at the contents. There was cup ramen.

He supposed it made sense: he had stocked on long conservation food before departing, but really…the cupboards opened to reveal canned meat, canned fish and canned peaches.

He finally surrendered to the inevitable and placed the water to boil.

Cup Ramen would be good —after he took his own shower, he had no intention whatsoever of going out to eat. He was tired physically and mentally after the ordeal, and a good night of rest was precisely what he had in mind.

"We never sparred," Fu said carefully as she skipped in the kitchen. "But I know you're the strongest now," she mumbled as she settled down on the chair in front of him.

"Eh?"

"The…the sins of Ignorance," Fu whispered. "They're…they're not pretty. They give insight, you know? Because…if you hit someone because you're ignorant, and you _think_ they're a monster, then they tell me that _he isn't_, and that you're hitting him only because you're stupid." She bitterly smiled. "I saw you enter and leave…my wings, right?"

"You don't have to talk about it," he quietly replied. "Really…it's not necessary."

"They were tiny things at first," she murmured. "They began to hurt when I turned eleven, and then one morning…there they were," she had a wistful look. "I still remember learning how to fly in the first hour. I was so happy…I laughed so much, I flew through the sky…it was so pretty," there was a choked sound in her throat as her voice trailed off.

"Fu…"

"My mom was scared," she hiccupped. "Said I was turning into…into a monster," she trembled. "So she grabbed the knife and…and I was so _scared_ because I knew what she wanted to do to me...out of Ignorance, I knew it…" her body was wracked with sobs as she spoke. "It was horrible…"

Naruto slowly circled the table, before engulfing in a hug the green haired girl. He didn't say a word, but simply hummed and rocked her back and forth gently. She smelled of the same soap he used —she had showered in his bathroom after all.

"It's all right," he murmured. "Now it's all right, you can't live in the past…"

"Y-Yeah," she croaked out, "You stink, Baku."

"My name's Naruto," he whispered back soothingly in her hair. "I'll go and shower then," he was off after a few more seconds spent just…just hugging the trembling girl.

"Keep an eye on the water," he warned her as he went for his shower. The hot water was still there, and as he thoroughly washed and rinsed himself, he realized only halfway through that he had gone without clothes. He sighed and shook his now wet locks of hair. Where was his head?

He stepped outside a few minutes later, to enter his room and grab his own clothes, with but a towel to cover his indecencies. It was as he was changing that he heard the sound of his door opening. He frowned for a moment.

Who could it be?

The moment he reached for the hallway, the steps hurried and soon joined with a sharp and glaring voice that was intimately familiar to him.

"_W-WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?_" Sakura screamed as her eyes settled on the tanned…on the tanned _whore_ who was wearing her teammates' clothes. She had a hand to her kunai before she could even control herself, and as she watched her, she immediately trailed from…from her chest to…

She was wearing Naruto's boxers!?

She could feel the pressure build in her temples as she furiously ground her teeth. She hadn't even gone that far! That…_that whore_ of a foreigner! _How dared she!?_

She could see the faint glistening of water on the girl's hair, as if she had just used the shower —how dared she!?

She could feel the heat coming the bathroom, which meant it had been something done just slightly before —how dared she!?

She…she was wearing Naruto's clothes! How dared she? _**How Dared She!?**_

"_**WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!?"**_ she snarled once more as the girl was simply looking at her with wide eyes, probably in fear —ha! The bitch needed to learn not to mess with her, Shannaro!

"Sakura," and that was when Sakura's thoughts on punishing the bitch fell flat. She spun around as fast as a coiled whip could snap, and her wide eyes looked into Naruto's features for the first time in a year. He looked…well, he wasn't much different, but he was definitively taller and…and his whiskers were more pronounced. His eyes were those deep pools of cerulean she remembered and his body if anything looked definitively leaner and muscly.

And he was bare chested, with his shirt hanging loosely on his shoulder.

"A…Ah," she stammered out as she felt heat rise to her cheeks. She dropped the kunai on the floor the next moment, and then looked like a trapped mouse between Naruto and Tanned Whore-Bitch. Her eyes widened even more, as the boy smiled and then widened his arms slightly.

"Hey, Sakura…I'm back."

She began to sob as she launched herself into his arms, hugging him tightly. She could feel his hands gently caress her hair, and in that single moment…she felt truly happy.

Then the smell of blood reached her nostrils. It was thick, as if it permeated every pore of Naruto's skin. His hands felt nice at first, but she could feel their natural callous nature, due to the strength of the grip used to plunge kunai in the body of the enemies. She knew she wasn't being hugged by some sort of super-good looking man or model, but by a shinobi, a tool for murder.

Yet she couldn't really care about that.

"Oh, does she eat with us too?" the Tanned Bitch Whore asked then, with a sort of unnerving bright smile.

It was then that Sakura's brain connected the dots.

The Bitch was wearing Naruto's clothes. The Whore had finished showering. Naruto was wearing comfortable clothes and stood bare-chested. He had just finished showering. The foreigner was making herself at home, as if she owned the place. The Bitch Tanned Whore Foreigner had his boxers on, _**HIS**_.

She detached herself from Naruto firmly, and then her eyes locked on to him one more time.

"Naruto?" she asked, sweetly while clenching her fists. "Who is she? Why is she here?"

"I'm Fu!" the girl replied first, brightly. "And I'm eating with Naruto!"

"Yes, I understood that," Sakura replied. "But why is she wearing your clothes?"

"Hers were dirty, Sakura," Naruto muttered as he put on his shirt without any concern —it was a crime against nature to hide those abs, but then again Sakura had already burned their image to the back of her brain.

"And _why_ were they dirty?"

"She was on patrol with me," Naruto shrugged. "It…it didn't end well," he shook his head. "Can we talk about something else?"

Sakura's face softened, before she slowly looked once more back to Fu. She had just finished eating at Hebi, and she didn't want to—

Oh, to hell with that.

She was going to intrude, and she was going to stay. There was no way a Tanned Bitch that came out of nowhere would steal her place next to Naruto! She had waited one year for a reply, and she was going to get it.

"Yes," she nodded, firmly swallowing the nervousness in her throat. "I want an answer."

Naruto's eyes shone. He had probably known she was going to ask him. Good. She clenched her fists and waited to hear of how he totally preferred tanned bitches with curves. She felt his right hand grab her chin and gently bring her eyes up to meet his, as his gaze was just…it was just so _soft_…

"I can't swear true love, Sakura," he murmured. "I can't say yes or no," he shook his head. He felt bitter about the answer, she could feel it, and it _tore her heart_. "I'm…I'm not ready for it. I can't see the white and the black, Sakura. It's all grey now," he bit his lips. "What if I say yes, and then it was no? What if I say no, and then it becomes yes? How can I say that _I love you_, if I don't even know the depths of the word? It's easy to scream 'I love you'. It's easy to whisper it, or to say it again and again…but men who say it can be cheaters all the same. I…I don't want to say something I don't really mean, and I'm scared…because if I say it, and then this turns out to only be a…fleeting thing, then…"

"I didn't waver once, Naruto," Sakura muttered, her eyes shining with glistening tears. "Why can't you just…say it? Please? You had a year, Naruto. A year! Yes…or no."

"I…I think…"

"_THE WATER'S BOILING_!" Fu screamed then like a child, interrupting the moment.

"Well, the water's…" Naruto tried to say, but Sakura just gripped his shirt firmly with her hands. She wasn't going to let the moment end like this. She wanted an answer and she would get one!

"You're not leaving my sight until you say _Yes_ or _No_, Naruto," she growled. "_**YES OR NO**_!?"

His eyes widened as he watched the trembling form of Sakura screaming at him, in truth hiding her fright behind her eyes.

_Misery. Am I not good enough? Am I always second best? Why? Is it the bitch?_

_Hatred. I WILL…_

"YES!" Naruto screamed in the end, grabbing Sakura's wrists and pulling her close to him. "Yes," he whispered softly afterwards, holding his lips inches away from hers. "Yes, yes," he muttered, his eyes locking with hers.

"Yes," he breathed out as he kissed her. "Yes," he muttered as he held her tightly. "Yes," he exhaled after the rough kisses. "I love you, Sakura."

Sakura promptly fainted, with blood gushing out of her nose.

Naruto sweatdropped.

Fu just brought a hand to her mouth, before mumbling. "Aw…is there enough water for three?"

And somewhere else, in a land where trees did not live, where charred ashes and fire rained from the skies on a good day, a man prepared with a sinister smile for the most perfect gambit ever to be made as he crumbled a piece of paper in his hand.

He was Oonoki of Iwa…and his Will was that of Stone.

**Author's notes**

***chuckles***

***laughs***

***Returns stern***

***Writes and erases ninety-seven lines worth of 'Pairings are God Say So' and thus useless cliché'***

_**I Don't Know who Naruto will **__**fuck**__** at the end and have **__**babies**__** with. **__**I know there is no fixed pairing**__**, because if my Muse dictates it, I will hold no punches in gutting Sakura, making it Naruto-Fu or making it a **__**Yaoi orgy**__**. **_

***Good enough***

**This chapter was nice to write. Fu went hero worship, but was stopped by Naruto. Sakura had a nice dream section. (Ha! Take that!) Tobi and Itachi try to outsmart Orochimaru. **

**Orochimaru is perfectly **_**not**_** overpowered: He could build **_**secret ninja bases**_** in other countries (you know, things that require masonry and whatnot), infiltrate his men into Konoha up to Jounin rank, and apparently kill the Kazegake and his bodyguards with ease. Tobi trying to outsmart him is funny. Like a puppy barking to an angry Rottweiler.**

**Anyone made a paragon between Naruto and Itachi yet? They're pretty much opposites. One sacrifices for those he cherishes, and remains 'loyal' while not being it. The other does the same, but is 'Missing' while obeying orders.**

**PS: I reached 1000 reviews! Now I can die happy. **


	48. Tear Apart the Veil of Ignorance!

Introverted

Chapter Forty-Eight

Sakura was humming a happy note to herself, as she skimmed across the second book of the Hiss Collection.

"_You are mine, N-chan! MINE!" the incestuous and voluptuous sister, deformed into a mass of putrid and rotten flesh, screamed as chains made of rotten bones and marrow twisted and pulled at the screaming N-chan. A wicked grin and a maddening laughter showed the true face of twisted madness into the visage of what once had been K-chan, N-chan's sister._

"_Please K-chan! Return to your senses!" N-chan whispered in fright. "You're my sister! This is wrong!"_

"_Yeah! Let N-chan go you meanie!" K-kun, the black snake, said from the cage he was in._

_K-chan just smiled and licked her lips as N-chan came closer and closer to her. _

_The wall of the dark prison broke then, as a figure clad in pink entered wielding a kunai and screaming._

"_Let N-chan go! I am Super S-chan!"_

"_It's Super S-chan! We're saved!" K-kun screamed in joy._

She skipped through the battle and the end with the slightly steamy description of Super S-chan and N-chan doing something behind a door —unclogging a pipe, considering the words like 'go in deeper' and 'faster' coupled with 'not so hard' and 'be gentle when putting it in'.

What else could those words be used for?

She watched as Naruto yawned, probably ready to go to bed. She blushed scarlet. They had slept in the same bed before, but what would change now? Damn, she wasn't ready. Well, maybe a bit…maybe a bit not…she didn't know!

The Tanned Bitch Whore was not a menace, on the ground of her being apparently with the mentality of a seven years old. Unless it was all a ploy, the way she was going to Naruto's bed—

"Wait a moment!" she snapped looking towards Fu, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Bed," Fu replied with another yawn. "I'm sleepy."

"That's…That's Naruto's bed!"

"He said I could use it," she looked towards Naruto, who nodded at her. The next moment, Fu simply entered and jumped on the bed in question. Sakura could her the springs creak as the girl probably jumped on the mattress up and down for a while.

Her eyes then settled with a frown on Naruto.

"I'll pull out the bed from beneath the sofa," Naruto shrugged. "You want to stay the night?"

She nodded meekly, slightly blushing as she stood up and closed the book she had been reading until then. She helped set the guest bed up, and then carefully sat on one side as he took the other. The moment he dropped down and placed both of his hands behind his head, his eyes on the ceiling, she did the same.

The mattress wasn't that horrible. It just was harder, and smelled slightly funny. She should have thought about airing it. The pillow was the true problem. She was about to ask Naruto for another one, when she realized he was already sleeping. She blinked. He was actually sleeping, without any care that there was a potential assassin in the next room. Carefully, with a blush on her face…

She dropped her head on his chest and went to snuggle against it. Acting on instinct, she brought her left hand to rest on the chest of Naruto, humming in pleasure as she tried her best to keep an eye open for trouble —since Naruto was sleeping, she'd be the one making sure nothing bad happened. In the end, the moment Naruto was completely knocked out, his body brought down one of his arms from the back of his head to hug the 'warm form' he was feeling.

Sakura's blush and the heat that reached her cheeks were enough to knock out the pink haired Chuunin

And for once, they all slept peacefully.

The next morning, Naruto woke to the feeling of a slight breath sending warm air to the underside of his chin. It was a soft snoring sound, merely a heavy breather, and it seemed to come from somewhere extremely close. He slowly opened his eyes to the sun's rays glaring dangerously through the open window. He could hear the slight moaning of Sakura because of the light that was dangerously close to her shut eyelids.

He carefully brought his right hand to cup her cheek softly, letting the shadow of his hand extend and cover her eyelids. Sakura smiled in her sleep, as she snuggled closer. He sighed. He had a report to write and deliver, and then he'd have to get a new mask assigned.

A soft knock at the door woke him, and he mentally cursed. 'Softly knocking' normally alerted only the residents already awake in a household, but in a shinobi village even _walking_ on the stairs outside alerted at least half the building. He grumbled beneath his breath as he stood to sit on the side of the bed, and then stretch for a moment before heading for the door.

Behind him, he could already hear Sakura's 'erratic' movements of 'fake' sleep. She was probably palming a kunai as he was giving her his back. Fu was already standing up —he had no doubt about that. As he opened the door, he expected to find…

Well, he didn't expect to find _Shikamaru Nara_ on the other side of it.

He really didn't expect it at all.

"We have a problem," the Nara spoke. "You are required," he added then. "Hokage's orders —five minutes tops, at the tower."

He nodded and then watched the Nara leave.

He wondered what it was all about even as he closed the door and went to dress. Sakura was already standing with her arms crossed over her chest, pouting slightly and looking at him with an affronted look. "So…going out on a mission?" she asked then with a teasing grin.

He actually looked at her, in the sunlight that slowly came in from the window at her back, and imagined her a few years older, with more curves and a far more adult smile. The image was soon gone, replaced with the slightly worried looking teammate he had trained and shed blood with. She even looked downcast.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Can you take care of Fu while I'm out?"

Sakura bit her lip, and then nodded with a slight blush on her face. "Yes," she slowly walked forward just as he finished clasping the Chuunin Flak jacket. "But…" she pouted and locked eyes with him, "Can I have a morning kiss?"

He smiled and gave her a light peck on the lips, before bringing his forehead to rest against hers. "All right?"

"Yep," she giggled, before carefully pushing him out of the door. "Now off you go, Naruto! You've got a mission to do!"

Naruto nodded and left, disappearing in a flicker of leaves. Sakura just smiled warmly, before turning to look at the tanned girl who had come out of Naruto's bedroom. She brightly said then, without a worry in the world.

"Well! Let's have breakfast, and then I'll show you around the village, eh?"

Fu nodded. "Will Naruto eat with us later?"

"Of course he will," she rolled her eyes. "Maybe not lunch," she amended, "But definitively dinner."

Naruto entered the Hokage's office to find a disparaged group of Genin and Chuunin ready —as well as the head of the Hyuga clan to boot.

"Listen here, brats," the Godaime spoke calmly as he watched him enter. "The situation is as follows: there has been a push of Sound Ninja —or abominations of Sound Ninja— from the Valley of the End, and at the same time we have your friend Hinata who has been kidnapped from the hospital and brought in the direction of Kiri by at the very least a group of four or five shinobi."

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "But it's pretty clear-cut by the mean used —the devouring and the donning of a human body— that it is a Kumogakure shinobi who did this. There are two possibilities: either the individual belongs to the _Bakeneko_ clan, or it's outright the Jinchuuriki of the Nibi."

There were hushed whispers, which soon silenced themselves after the Godaime's glare.

"As it is, the able-bodied shinobi will be fighting off the Sound troops in the valley of the end. However, we _cannot_ let Hinata reach the border of Kumo. The Byakugan cannot fall in the hands of the land of lightning, and we cannot afford to start a war with them to get it back."

Naruto recalled the name of the fat boy eating chips a moment after the Godaime finished speaking. His name was Chouji Akimichi. He hadn't changed much…if at all.

"Thankfully among you there is someone with the bird summons," Tsunade continued. "You should be able to catch up with them within the end of the day if you head off now." Her amber eyes locked with Naruto. "Naruto Namikaze, as Tokubetsu Jounin, will lead the team."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered. Chouji nearly choked on his chips. There was a screech from a girl…wait, her name was Ami, right? Then there was a sharp exclamation of…

"What!? No! No way in hell that I'm letting that monster guide us! Hokage-sama!" it was Hibachi. The civilian boy was now slightly taller, wearing his forehead protector on his head and holding a glare that was nothing compared to an angry Sakura.

"If I'm to lead," Naruto remarked carefully. "Then I don't need dead weight. I can cover more distance alone."

"Maybe, but you would not cover enough area," Tsunade replied. "And if you were to use your Kage Bunshin, you'd be without chakra by the time you'd end up fighting the Nibi —in the worst case scenario. You are all I can spare at the moment…and you will have to do."

"Namikaze-san," the Hyuga clan leader spoke then firmly, taking a step forward. "Bring my daughter back alive, whatever the cost…and I swear I will repay you tenfold."

Naruto nodded at that.

"No need to waste more time then," he said quickly. "Every shinobi or kunoichi that follows my lead, change your radio frequency to four-four-nine," he reached for the window and opened it. "Are we dismissed, Hokage-sama?"

"If it's the Jinchuuriki," Tsunade said then firmly, "You are to try to possibly capture her alive."

He gave a single nod.

Tsunade nodded back.

Then they were gone, all of them.

Naruto looked behind him, at the shinobi following his lead. He had Shikamaru Nara, Akimichi Chouji…there was Kiba Inuzuka who was strangely quiet, Ami and Hibachi…he wondered why they hadn't called for Sakura. There also was a cloaked Genin with a pair of sunglasses on his face, who seemed to be…Shito? Shinno? Shi…Shino! The guy who had helped him in the middle of the forest of death…now he remembered. He was an Aburame, wasn't he?

"Inuzuka! You have any track?" he barked in the radio.

"No," the boy remarked —why was he being so quiet? Had he possibly _grown_?

"Aburame?"

"The female Kikkaichu I left on Hinata was killed."

Naruto exhaled. This wasn't going to be easy at all, was it?

If only he had a way to track…

He bit down on his thumb, before summoning enough chakra to call forth a big bird. He wondered what would appear, if he didn't call out for Hagewashi.

He jumped in the air and pushed his palm downwards as seals erupted in mid-air from his palm. A humongous plume of smoke soon gave way to a giant golden-feathered hawk with a sharp crimson beak.

Its eyes were red and bloodshot, a morsel of flesh stood within his beak that he hastily gulped down.

"Summoner! I am Sashiba of the Falcons! On whom shall we feast on this glorious day!?"

"Sashiba, we're pursuing two, maybe three enemy shinobi. They kidnapped a Hyuga of Konoha," he said quickly. "Our only lead is that there either is a _Bakeneko _clan member or the Nibi Jinchuuriki among the kidnappers. They're headed towards Kumo territory, even though they're trying to make it seem as if Kiri had a hand in it."

The Hawk flapped its powerful wings, looking back at the —admittedly tiny in his opinion— humans he was supposed to carry on his back.

He narrowed his eyes on them, and then gave a curt nod of his head. "They may climb on my back…but I demand a payment."

"Five deer carcasses?" Shikamaru spoke without even flinching, as if he was actually used to dealing with such a creature.

"Ten," the hawk replied.

"Fine," he shrugged. "No skin off my teeth."

Naruto blinked, but did not speak. It was as the hawk departed once more, with the shinobi on his back, that Shikamaru took pity on him. "Konoha held the Crow contract through the Uchiha. The Uchiha paid the Nara for deer carcasses now and then —and when the Uchiha were slaughtered, they simply came directly to us."

"Ah," he nodded and returned to gaze ahead. The wind was ruffling his hair, as the cold breeze of the higher altitude made his briskly clench and rub his hands together. "Do you see them, Sashiba?"

"There is nothing my eyes cannot see from above," the Hawk remarked. "The question is, is what I see what you need?"

Naruto ground his teeth. He wondered why the Hokage had insisted on sending him with such a team —he didn't need them to cover the ground quickly. Shikamaru nudged his shoulder with an open Bingo Book. "Here," the Nara drawled. "Have your hawk look through this page. There's the Nibi Jinchuuriki's face."

He gave a quick glance at the picture of a woman with blond hair tied in a long ponytail, with stern features and wearing dark purple chest armour coupled with a black underneath shirt. The symbol of Kumogakure was visible on her forehead protector, and she seemed to be looking at the photographer with a look of utter disgust. He carefully touched the pictured frame…

_Misery. When this is over…I'll have to suffer through another one…I hate this…why can't I just…find someone?_

_Hatred. Pathetic, snivelling, bastard creatures unworthy of existence! Your weakness disgusts me! I'll smile for now…but I will show you the true—_

His eyes snapped open to the direction he could hear those _thoughts_ come from. "To the North," he said crisply. "They're moving through the forest over there, a blond woman...a dark haired girl…"

_Misery. Why couldn't father just…just accept us, mother?_

"Ah," he chuckled. "Full circle," he smiled. "Listen up!" he turned to look at his 'team'. "I don't know why the Hokage decided you all needed to come, frankly, I'm sure I'll be enough for this," he remarked dryly. "In any event, you're here so you better understand this: I'm your team leader, so what I say goes."

He narrowed his gaze at Hibachi's snort.

"If you don't like it, then I don't give a damn," he hissed. "I can't sense how many enemies there are precisely, but one is the Nibi Jinchuuriki without doubt," the rest of the team paled.

"She's mine, so do not intervene in things that don't concern you," he added carefully. "You will divide yourself in two teams. Team One will be composed of Kiba, Shino and Ami. You three are to take Hinata and leave as fast as possible. Team Two will have Shikamaru, Hibachi and Chouji. You will guard Team One's back while they retreat." He closed his eyes and then swallowed nervously once. "Finally, our mission is to prevent Kumogakure from taking Hinata Hyuga eyes. If it seems as if I'll be overpowered, or if they still are holding on to Hinata, then your priorities switch to _killing her._"

"T-That's sick!" Ami exclaimed. "She's…she's a fellow citizen of Konoha!"

"She's a mission Objective," Naruto frostily remarked. "If her eyes are gone, Kumogakure won't try such a stunt again so soon. If you let her live, Konoha won't move soon to recapture her…and must I tell you what they'll do to her to get more Byakugan users?" he took a step towards the girl. "They'll probably keep her in a comfortable cell and once a day, until she ends pregnant, she'll be _raped_. They'll repeat it until she'll be broken, and always…always they'll take her child away. If the child is a female, they'll wait until she's of age for reproduction, which might just be until she's thirteen…and they'll start again." He pointed his finger towards Ami.

"Killing her is a _mercy_. We're not heroes. We're not infallible. If the mission is about to fail, then morals are _meaningless_." He stepped back towards the head of Sashiba and kept his gaze focused on his objective.

"What a drag," Shikamaru muttered from his spot on the back of the hawk. Chouji remained quiet.

"Then we just have to win this!" Hibachi exclaimed suddenly, taking a step forward. "With your strength on our side, we can win and complete this mission, right?"

"How quick," Naruto remarked dryly. "Am I not a monster?" he turned his eyes back to the boy. "I should just kill the Hyuga and crush her eyes. That would be simpler, and I could always claim the mission was a failure," he shrugged. "Nobody would blame me…nobody that _counts_, that is."

"Thankfully the Hokage asked her back alive, and unharmed," Shikamaru muttered.

"What the Hokage wants, what the Village wants, what the People want, what the Shinobi want…they are seldom the same thing," he remarked. "But we go forth all the same with doing our missions."

"Man, and here I thought I was bonkers," Kiba muttered then, with Akamaru yapping next to him. The dog was now as big as the Inuzuka's knees. "You smell rotten, Naruto. I thought it was your usual stupidity but this? This goes beyond stupid."

Naruto shrugged. "Think what you want —just don't slow me down."

He couldn't understand those…those children next to him. How had they gotten their vests? Had they fought through blood and tears for the responsibility to carry them? Had they maybe been patted on the head, and been told 'good job' by their parents? Was that how they earned their vests?

Ami slowly made her way forward, stopping slightly behind Naruto. She coughed lightly to get his attention, and then smiled sweetly.

"Hey," she said soothingly. "I…I know we're getting on your nerves," Hibachi made a strangled noise with his throat, while his hands were mimicking throttling the girl. "But…But could we all get along, please?"

He didn't answer the girl. He just closed his eyes and waited. He could feel the excitement build in his body, and thrum powerfully through his veins. The Nibi was there, barely a few hours away from him. He wasn't going to let such an opportunity go to waste.

In the world of the Shinobi, everyone was out for themselves…so, why would anyone care if he took his own slice?

Elsewhere, among dilapidated buildings and waves that crashed against the old cracked port, the Snake Sannin travelled through the devastation that was everywhere. Uzushiogakure showed itself in all of its decadent glory to him, and he couldn't help but start to _talk_.

"War tore the land. Blood rained from the skies," Orochimaru said —apparently to no one— as he walked through the ruins. "Death came through plague, pestilence and famine. People cried out for salvation, but it did not come. The wars of the past ravaged the land of its bounty. The secrets were hidden, the science destroyed. All that we have in our hands are the relic of the past, bound by locks too far beyond our comprehension."

The Snake Sannin hummed as he looked above, to the sky. "I wonder," he chuckled. "Have you come this far to hear me rant?"

"Orochimaru," Tobi said dryly, appearing from behind a corner of a dilapidated building. "What are you doing here? Sightseeing?"

"Maybe," the snake sannin commented. His golden eyes looked amusingly towards the man. "Have you come to chat, Obito?"

The masked man tensed, and then relaxed. "No, I have not," he unclasped the spiralling mask, to reveal his face —half was old, the other half smoothly white.

"Very well then," Orochimaru smiled. He could hear his blood thrum, his heartbeat pulse beneath all the layers of rotten flesh and chakra that he used as a body. "Show me then, little Uchiha. Show me if your _eyes_ are worthy."

A sharingan with three tomoe shone in the other socket of Obito's eyes. He said nothing, and in the silence broken only by the wind fluttering across the landscape, the waves crashed unnaturally strong against the coast.

Among the dilapidated building, the broken blocks of concrete, the charred and upturned cars, two shinobi looked at one another with but a single thought in mind.

To win.

To survive.

To rule.

Chakra flew across their hands as wind answered the call to one just as fire came for the other. Orochimaru's movement seemed slow to Obito's sharingan, but as he expelled fire shurikens where he was supposed to be, the snake sannin slithered in a way a normal body could not and avoided them. His sword came from his mouth, the Kusanagi that flew in the sky.

Orochimaru gripped the handle of his sword as the blade extended, its point slicing through the concrete and the ground, detonating the area where the metal passed and leaving behind but a trail of destruction all the way up to where Obito stood.

The Uchiha let the blade pass through him, before charging ahead while calling forth giant shurikens from thin air, sending them to connect with the lower body of the snake Sannin who did not parry or block them.

The body of the enemy tore in half, but soon snakes erupted from the wound, reconnecting the two parts. The Kusanagi resumed its normal size just in time to come between Obito and his advance on the snake Sannin, forcing them into a match of Kenjutsu. Sparks flew in the air as the blades connected and battled in a series of thrust, parries and swipes. The noises, the clanks and clinks mixed with the soaring noise of the wind that emerge from Orochimaru's mouth and the rumbling of fire that spewed forth from Obito's lips.

They ducked, dodged and parried; they sidestepped volleys of steel and chakra. A lethal dance of steel wires, shuriken, of ground broken and filled with the water of the sea soon followed, before they separated with a simple jump.

They stood at the edges of the lagoon that once was Uzushiogakure's port. Neither of the two was breathing hard, neither was sweating.

"There will be no retreating," Obito murmured. "Not from this, not after this…Orochimaru, what is it that you are truly planning?"

A thunder struck the sky, which began to darken. There was a flash of light, and Orochimaru dashed forward through the water at a speed Obito's sharingan could barely keep up with. The snake Sannin twisted in mid-air, releasing from his hands a myriad of snakes that soared through the air, their mouths opening and unleashing thousands of blades —all poisoned, all sharp.

Obito became ethereal, letting the weapons pass through him without trouble. It was then that he felt something he shouldn't have, and hastily dodged to the side.

"Ah…Yes, I suspected as much," Orochimaru laughed. "Your eyes! They are the centre of your technique, but…their purpose, it is simply to 'bring what is' to somewhere 'it is not'. You are intangible as long as your eyes stay on this 'plane'. Thus, if I attack your body _and_ your eyes, you have to dodge, especially if the attacks come from beneath, behind, or above the eye itself..."

Obito bit his tongue. He shouldn't have been so hasty to dismiss Orochimaru's cunningness. He hadn't _known_ about that limitation either before! It made sense in retrospect: he could make his body intangible in one place because he 'transported' it into another, but his eyes were always either the _first_ thing to pass through or the _last_.

"Fair enough," he murmured. "Should you really be fighting me? Together, we could…"

"Today I decided I would kill you," Orochimaru shrugged. "No deals with you today."

"A pity," his eye morphed into the Mangekyou variant, "Then…_die_."

Black flames erupted in the spot he had been observing —namely, Orochimaru. The fire burned brightly against the sannin, but as the heat dwindled down, he realized it had been nothing more than a mud clone. The real Orochimaru scattered a plethora of explosive tags towards him, before slicing with his Kusanagi the air.

Obito growled as he absorbed the tags —at the same time ducking to avoid the tip of the blade. He heard the explosions on the other side and smirked.

Orochimaru then smiled sweetly.

The next instant, he flung a kunai towards Obito's chest. "Resorting to petty tricks, now?"

The moment Obito said that and made the part disappear before the kunai struck, a sharp pain tore through his insides. He doubled over, coughing blood as he saw the blade of the Kusanagi coming back down to slice at his back. As blood sprayed in the sky, tinging everything in a light red mist, Obito fell on the ground harshly breathing. He tried to leave, but was stabbed once more —from the inside.

"The explosive tags were Kage Bunshin," Orochimaru smoothly remarked. "Do not think your eyes grant you a power beyond which my intelligence cannot reach. Do not think that blood is worthier than skill, Uchiha…for it isn't," the snake Sannin walked forward. "You will die. The Kusanagi's poison…it cannot be fought or defeated."

He kicked the Uchiha in the sides, making sure Obito's head remained down on the ground by pushing his other feet on his neck.

"This was a battle of ideals, Obito Uchiha," Orochimaru spoke calmly. "Yes, I know your name, I know your identity. _I know your truth_." There was a light chuckle. "You think…you think a perpetual Genjutsu will work, pathetic creature? To _use_ the moon? Do you know not the rules of energy, of mass? You cannot create or destroy matter, but only _transform it_. You cannot _remove_ energy from the universe —only _add_ to it. The soul, the chakra, once it departs…it is forever gone. That is the _truth_ of _Chakra_, after all."

There was a light hiss, as the snake sannin sheathed his Kusanagi.

"The Chakra is the energy that endlessly pours into the Universe, birthed from other living beings into their spawns, delivered instant after instant with each dying breath to a force stronger than you could ever imagine," the voice of the Sannin grew slowly heated as he spoke. "In the beginning, Chakra belonged to the Universe, it belonged to the world. Yet the Sage of the Six paths took it, he stole it…like Prometheus took the fire from the Gods, the Sage took the energy from the Universe...from Nature."

There was an instant of silence.

"Of course, you don't know who Prometheus is, do you? You don't even know half of what I'm talking about. But I _know_. I know because I dared to _ask_, and I dared…_I dared to listen_!"

Orochimaru chuckled. "I dared to _learn_. I dared to _acknowledge_. I dared to find the truth hidden by the mist of _ignorance_."

The Sannin gave a hesitant kick to the Uchiha's body, looking as it turned and flopped with his gaze upwards. A vitreous gaze, glazed over, belonging to a dead shinobi.

"Your purpose? Your quest? It was egoistic. It was personal…and how could it benefit the _world_?" Orochimaru chuckled then, slowly kneeling down in front of the man's face. "You think I took Sasuke's eyes for some sort of crappy reason like learning techniques?" he whispered to the body's ears.

"Ehi, guess what? I already have a pair of sharingan eyes in a vase; in one of my labs…on one of the desks, covered in dust, they _float_. I had them since the third shinobi war, when your clan would not miss a tiny Chuunin disappearing beneath the rubble."

He passed his hand over the body's eyes, closing them and slowly standing back up. "What I'm doing, it's not because I'm a mad shinobi. Sure, maybe I am a bit mad…but then again…" he shrugged. "Life's filled with madness."

And in that moment, the corpse of Obito _melted_ to show a nameless shinobi within it.

"Touché," Orochimaru chuckled. Obito's kunai pierced through the Sannin's heart in that moment, as the Uchiha stood with gritted teeth behind him. "You wound me so, Obito-kun?"

Obito's eyes were burning with hatred, as the black flames of Amaterasu sprouted once more. Orochimaru's body burned, as the mouth distended to exhale a giant white snake that slithered across the port's water and disappeared within the lagoon.

Obito breathed deeply. He had been right to send a body-clone with only half his chakra. Orochimaru…was there something the snake sannin couldn't do?

He had grown up in Konoha with the myths on his frighteningly strong powers. Jiraiya and Tsunade, they both at least felt human —one could see them smile, play with kids, help others. Orochimaru had been the one feared —the one that scared children into submission with his mere presence.

The other Sannin were 'cool'. He was _terrifying_.

He had been the bogeyman of Konoha.

People gave him a wide berth wherever he went, and those who didn't…they generally shuddered when he walked closer to them.

Now, around Obito, there was silence.

His sharingan caught the sight of a gale of wind before his body could react. He did however spin out from thin air a battle fan, which he filled with fire chakra and sent back, a wave of fire so hot it burned through the gale and beyond.

In the wisp of the crackling flames, the Kusanagi soared to pierce his heart. He blocked it with the fan, swatting it away rather than taking the full brunt of the attack head on. The sword spun and then resumed its flight, forcing him to dash forward atop the water.

"Very well," he muttered. "If you wish to play the underwater serpent, then I will have roasted eel for lunch!" Amaterasu burned, surrounding the lagoon and letting the unquenchable fire boil the water with their heat. Soon, vapours rose as Obito deflected the Kusanagi once more. The sparks ignited the air —inflammable gas then— and combusted into a fiery fireball. Obito discarded his cloak as he pushed himself below the water, just in time to see the glistening fangs of the giant white snake come close to tear him in half.

He swiftly substituted with his tattered cloak, coming back up before Orochimaru could bite him. He spun his body in mid-air, emptying his sleeves of explosive tags as he shot them in the boiling water. Orochimaru's form jumped out from the water and with a glistening hiss of fury and anger, his body literally collided against Obito's form.

The Uchiha careened back in the air, past the Amaterasu flames and to crash against the nearby concrete wall of a dilapidated building.

The giant white snake form of Orochimaru soon followed, and coiled itself like a spring ready to pounce.

"W…Why can't I…" Obito coughed, as Orochimaru merely smiled sweetly.

"My blood…my breathing…my sweat…they are all a part of me. When I mastered the technique to swap bodies, I discarded my mortal shell…I refused the mortality of flesh, and in exchange…well, in exchange I took as my body the eternity of chakra! Of course, there are some little bits that are wrong here and there, Senjutsu chakra tends to disrupt my body if I stay in it too long, you see…_things_ always want their balance back: it's the law. An action will always generate a reaction equal and contrary to the applied force."

Obito gritted his teeth.

"You know, the fun thing is…you might have won, had Itachi come around to help you. You didn't need to separate from him: you could have held him in your pocket dimension and gone to both villages in less than a second…but you didn't. You didn't because there are bits and pieces of truth I know that Itachi doesn't. To know the truth…such powerful thing, isn't it in our world?"

"What one claims truth…can be a lie!" Obito snarled.

"But…you were the one who conjured the Kyuubi, were you not?" Orochimaru smiled. "You were Uchiha Madara, who whispered words of power to the Uchiha's clan's head, while convincing the council to exterminate them. You were the one who brokered a deal with Danzo, in exchange for the sharingan to mature…" Orochimaru shook his head. "How else, could an entire clan be destroyed with none the wiser? Root, Anbu, the Council and yourself…you were all in this together."

Orochimaru chuckled. "Just like they were with the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, isn't it?"

Obito's eyes narrowed. "Who told you?"

"Someone no longer of this world," Orochimaru smiled. "Someone…" he smirked, "Whose opinion I honestly valued."

"Meddling old fool," Obito spat out. "So what!? The Uchiha clan…it was rotten to the core!"

"A cursed clan? Surely, you jest," the snake sannin smiled. "There is no such thing as a 'God', an all-mighty Kami. The Shinigami is but a demon who feasts on souls, the creation of chakra. Curses…they do not exist. Everything in the world can be explained with science, chakra or a combination of both," Orochimaru hissed.

"I'm not here to learn philosophy from a madman!" Obito screamed as the purple ribs of a spectral creature emerged to surround him. The Mangekyou in his left eye bled, as the creature sprung down on Orochimaru its sword.

The snake hissed and laughed, as it suddenly ripped itself apart. Seven heads darted to grab and hold onto the limbs of the creature made of dark and foul chakra. Like an octopus cracking open an oyster, Orochimaru pushed through the defence of the technique and slammed itself against Obito's mouth open in a scream.

The entire frame of the snake seemed to disappear then, engulfed and devoured by the Uchiha.

Obito stumbled, his Susanoo dispersing as he felt all of his muscles ripple and crack. He screamed as blood gushed out from his mouth, his hands flailing to rip his throat and try to expel the disgusting thing within…his eyes rolled backwards, his mouth frothed reddish ooze. He choked and coughed, falling on the ground with his hands slamming repeatedly against the rock and concrete surface of the rubble.

His body convulsed, his screams echoed in the empty ruins…

Then, as if someone pushed a switch, he fell limp on the ground.

When next he stood up, golden eyes looked through his own.

"And now," he clenched his fist. The skin slowly melded and reformed, covering him and granting him back the form that was his from birth. Orochimaru turned and began to whistle. "We head towards the Kage meeting…"

He disappeared within a whirlpool of sheer nothingness.

How else would he arrive in time, after all?

Yugito Nii looked with a mixture of anger and disbelief at the escorts following her. That hadn't been part of the deal! Kumogakure was supposed to get the Hyuga and a safe passage through the land of Sound to stave off the Konoha shinobi in pursuit. In exchange, Kumogakure would provide Sound with military equipment, and an alliance in a possible war with Konoha.

What she had faced then…those beasts couldn't be defined as helpful at all.

They had been forced to deviate from their intended road because the Valley of the End wasn't an option with the massive battle against…well, _abominations_ and _monsters_. The Nibi had felt the death, the spirits of the departed and their souls leave the bodies…there simply had been no other reason for her to act up like that.

Of course, the Nibi was genderless, but it was better for her sanity to consider it a 'her' and leave it at that. The people helping her were from Kiri —paid to act as an escort. The girl with raven hair had a unique bloodline, which she had used in getting the girl away from Konoha. She could create ice mirrors, and freely pass through them.

"The experiments must have run rampart," another of her 'escorts' spoke, trying to calm her down. She didn't need them per se, but someone _had_ to carry the whiny Hyuga. Well, the girl had been mostly quiet throughout the journey, but still, she kept on talking as if she hadn't realized they were kidnapping her. Such stupidity _warranted_ becoming breeding stock for Kumogakure.

"For the sake of our alliance, I hope so," she replied frostily, her eyes on the man known as Fudo. He had been plan B to enter Konoha, with the usage of his Earth Techniques. He had wild dark hair and a scraggly and unkempt short beard. Now they were heading directly towards Kumogakure, going against everything they had planned. If a Konoha patrol stopped them, she had no doubts it would result in some unpleasant time with the Raikage yelling at her.

"Of course," the suave voice of the woman known as 'Fuka' came next. Yugito didn't like the woman. If anything, it was because she could feel the woman's _wrongness_. She acted like a sort-of vixen with flowing red hair, which stretched down to her waist, and fair skin with a beauty mark under the left side of her lip. Her blue eyes sparkled with that type of feminine mirth that made men weak on their knees.

"Hinata," Yugito said then, with a calm and seraphic smile —she had discarded her nurse persona with a small lie—and now she had to be gentle when talking to the girl, as she was the 'friend' of the nurse, or she'd just tense and become useless for an hour or more. "Can you see if someone's following us?"

The meek Hyuga nodded, and hastily activated her Byakugan.

She paled a moment later.

"There's a—"

The next moment, _it rained Shinobi_.

Wearing a dark Chuunin flak jacket, with the symbol of Konohagakure visible on the forehead protector, Naruto Uzumaki's Kage Bunshin flew down with their shadow blades in hand.

Even though the strength of the impact would shatter them into plumes of smokes, the gravity would still grant strength to his Yoroi Toshi. If he could hit one of them, then…

The raven-haired girl that he remembered from the exam disappeared within a set of polished ice mirrors, from which thousands of ice senbons appeared to counter and destroy the Bunshin while in the air.

Sashiba flapped its wings with strength as he descended as fast as he could. Naruto ignored the screams of surprise from the rest of his 'team'. He had given them orders; it was up to them to use them.

He jumped down, landing with his feet against the branch of a tree and spinning downwards on it as a fireball the size of a tennis ball heated the air in the spot he had been a second before. He narrowed his eyes on the Nibi Jinchuuriki, who kept her eyes trailed on him with an amused smirk.

He dashed forward, Yoroi Toshi in hand, as his Kage Bunshin kept on turning to vapour. Sashiba disappeared after carrying them, and using the air and smoke of his departure, the two teams hid in the forest ready to strike at the right moment.

Of course, they were probably counting on using him as a distraction.

It didn't actually matter to Naruto: his own objective was clear-cut.

He sped up, his Yoroi Toshi stabbing forward as a gust of wind erupted from the blade. Yugito sidestepped it, before throwing a punch straight into Naruto's guts. He could feel his breath leave him, as he gritted his teeth and substituted with a Kage Bunshin the next instant —just in time to avoid a vertical swipe of the woman's leg that would have painfully broken something.

She had to be at least on a Jounin level.

"Hey! He's a wind user!" the red-haired woman spoke then, "Can I have him?"

"He's not alone," Yugito replied. "He has allies hiding in the woods like little mice, waiting for a cat to eat them up."

She licked her lips then, smirking.

"You still have to defeat the big bad fox first," Naruto countered. "And foxes eat cats."

The Kumogakure Jounin charged ahead, pouncing on the blond-haired Konoha shinobi with her nails elongating. Naruto mentally cursed. The Jounin was a Taijutsu user. He could use the Tanto to attack and stab, but in close combat?

He had to change the range of the confrontation.

He barely avoided a swiping claw, which however cut him nicely on the left arm, leaving behind bloody gashes that began to burn.

He could feel the chakra of the Nibi within the wounds, festering and rotting until a sharp jet of red chakra erupted from his body, grabbing a hold and choking to the death —if chakra could choke, that is— the intruder. The wounds stopped burning, but Naruto growled all the same. There had been no bleeding from the wound.

"Bijuu chakra is toxic," Yugito said. "But I suppose it's useless against another Jinchuuriki," she smiled coyly. Was she enjoying this?

He substituted quickly with a Kage Bunshin, ending up hiding behind the trunk of a tree as a tornado of wind and petals slashed through his clone's body. The red-haired woman grumbled then, having been the author of the technique.

"Shouldn't you be taking care of the mice?" Yugito asked Fuka, who merely scoffed.

"Fudo is enough for the small fries. I want a wind user."

Fudo was simply having a good fight. The fat guy was an Akimichi —his eyes never went wrong— and he was enjoying smashing his face on the ground.

"Well, fatty!? Is this all you can do!?"

Chouji's face was turning purple and bluish, but Fudo simply wasn't done. He was about to unleash another one of his rock-armoured punches, when he found his entire body immobilized. He growled in irritation.

"Kagemane successful," Shikamaru murmured from his spot. He slowly moved his hand away, which Fudo mimicked, before standing up and walking away from Chouji's prone body. The man had simply been too fast for the Akimichi: the moment Chouji had enlarged his right hand to attack the other had punched his friend in the guts sending him sprawling on the ground.

Ami had luckily dashed ahead with Shino and Kiba, but even they were busy with the kunoichi defending Hinata. The fact Hinata was actually helping the enemy…it had ramifications he didn't like at all.

"Kill him, Hibachi!" the moment he snapped that order, the other Genin dashed forward with his kunai in hand…and then he _froze_ a moment away from the man's neck.

"I…I can't!" the boy exclaimed fearfully. "I…I mean…I…"

Shikamaru cursed under his breath. He had wanted to preserve his chakra, but as it was…he slowly slithered his shadow up to man's neck, but the moment he tried to _snap_ it armour made of Doton chakra formed all around the enemy ninja.

"Ha," Fudo chuckled, "I'll take great pleasure in killing you slowly for this once I'm free…I'll bury you in the ground and let the gravel suffocate you. Maybe I'll fill your lungs with stones and let you choke on your own shredded innards."

Shikamaru's concentration wavered for a second, but as he hastily gripped back on the Kagemane he looked from Hibachi to Chouji's fallen form.

"Hibachi! Get Chouji away from here!"

"Y-Yes!" Hibachi exclaimed, moving to grab and help up the swollen faced Akimichi. Shikamaru's eyes then travelled to where Ami was…and where the Kunoichi with the Kirigakure forehead protector was making short work of the team.

Haku knew better than to toy around with enemies. She knew better because there was the monster among them. She had no doubt it would be a long fight, and she had no doubt it would end up being a highly destructive one, but in the end…

She didn't have a shred of doubt that it would be the Konoha ninja to emerge victorious. She had felt his power and his malice on that night…and she no longer could sleep afterwards. His feral glare, his fang-like teeth…his crimson eyes…they scared her to _death_.

Even though she should have kept some chakra to form another mirror of ice elsewhere and leave, she had to make Zabuza-sama proud with this mission. It would make Kiri —weak from the civil war— an ally of both Oto and Kumo —who was their neighbour by sea.

Cooperation was the key to survival. The Mizukage had told her so.

Therefore, with grace and calm, she _killed her heart_ and _fired_.

The senbon needles were made of ice, and as they sped up, they hit without fault the vital organs of the trio of Genin within. It was quick and painless. The moment she watched the three corpses fall on the ground, she gave a single shuddering breath of relief. It had been quick, and she had been merciful.

Then the bodies flickered and turned into trunks filled with explosives, and the detonation forced her to cover her eyes and move through the mirrors, as a roar of a typical Inuzuka technique ringed in her ears.

"Behind you, Haku-san!" Hinata screamed as she deftly moved once more.

A mirror of ice broke —just the one she had been in before— and another soon followed. She reformed them, trying to trap the spinning tornado of claws and teeth that was the Inuzuka.

The boy was too fast however, and he slipped through before she could complete the trap.

She melted the mirrors and disappeared into a puddle of water that formed on the ground after that. Her eyes settled on her surroundings. The Hyuga was still there, her Byakugan active.

"They're hiding behind those trees!" she pointed out in their directions, and Haku smiled briefly to herself.

With the help of the Hyuga…she would not fail Zabuza-sama.

Naruto snarled as he felt his heart pump from the effort to spin a Bijudama in his mouth. The moment Yugito closed in ready to rend through him, his throat engorged and he unleashed the technique. A ray of energy passed through his mouth and tore apart the trees beyond Yugito —who had ducked— destroying the ground and leaving behind the same scene of destruction as the falling of a meteorite would have. In that instant, he jumped back and formed the hand-seals for his wind technique as another Kage Bunshin popped into existence to make fire.

A third joined the line, forming a tornado of chakra with his right hand.

In an instant, a flaming tornado the size of a house twirled and spun on Naruto's hand, before the boy flung it forward with a scream. The forest's branches lit on fire immediately as the heat reached that of a scorching desert in the middle of the day. Yugito just smiled at the incoming tornado of fire, while Fuka went through hand-seals as fast as she could.

"_Suiton: Haran Banshō_!" water poured down from the sky like a waterfall, surrounding Fuka just before the flames could reach her. Steam rose from the contact between fire and water, and Yugito just smiled more and more as the tornado sizzled and finally died down.

"You call that fire?" Yugito smiled. She smiled and she giggled as she pushed her hands together to form a hand seal.

"_Let me show you true fire._"

Then Yugito Nii was gone. She was gone…and replaced with the giant flaming form of cerulean fire that was the Nibi itself, who roared and crashed down its right paw on the ground. The ground cracked and splintered as cerulean flames rose through the cracks and the fissures, burning their way upwards towards Naruto.

The boy barely jumped backwards, as the ground detonated in an explosion of lightning and fire so strong it melted the very ground into _lava_.

"**This. Is. Fire."** And the Nibi laughed as she charged ahead.

Shikamaru cursed, as he had to let go of the Kagemane or die in a scorching inferno. Hibachi had luckily taken Chouji away, but as he quickly ran from the flaming Bijuu, he saw the flicker of Fudo's rock-encrusted fist coming for the back of his head the next instant.

The last thought Shikamaru had, before the fist reached his head, was that a Doton technique to enhance arms usually broke heads as if they were nothing more than ripe watermelons.

Haku had taken Hinata away on her back, passing through an ice mirror. The technique wasn't made to have passengers, but she could work with what she had and coat Hinata in Ice chakra, before substituting with her through the glass mirrors. It was a perilous thing to do 'on the run', but as long as it worked…

Behind her, she could hear the Inuzuka in pursuit —he was screaming to her to stop after all— but she wasn't going to.

She would _not_ fail Zabuza-sama ever again.

Sakura smiled towards Fu, whom she had now classified as a 'non-menace'. The girl was childish, and more of a passing threat. Furthermore, Naruto had said he loved her, and he had even _kissed_ her. She was blushing every time she remembered the scene. Carefully, her hands grabbed the teacup of the nice outdoor café in Konoha she had chosen as a rest spot while on her tour with Fu.

The teacup _cracked_.

**Author's notes**

**Fluff everywhere! My muse…**

**Argh.**

**Writing the start scene with all that sappiness and fluff and…urgh, 'pairing stuff' killed me. Thankfully, my muse returned and unleashed her true spirit further down.**

**Naruto's attack could be considered the 'Twister' attack of the Kyuubi during the Pain battle of Canon, if not that, it's also on **_**fire**_**. **

**Shikamaru isn't dead **_**yet**_**.**

**The Moon-Eye plan of Obito? Yes…I think we'll scrap that. It's Orochimaru's turn to shine with his Armageddon enforced plan! And who will stop him?**

**Notice: Naruto is settled in a post-apocalyptic world, not 'Earth' per se, but Post-Apocalyptic all the same. Uzushio was filled with concrete, the land of wave had one shot rifles, there are feats of technology (Land of the Sky) which belong to the sort of past a post-apocalypse world would have. Amegakure itself is more of a modern city than the rest, what with all the steel and pipes going around.**

**Orochimaru went bonkers for immortality early, when the Uchiha clan was still around. His desire for techniques was even before that…so the sharingan? Yeah, he could have gotten it way, **_**way**_** before.**


	49. Find Your True Ideal!

**Choose Epic Battle Theme. Listen and Read. (Recommend Hishou in repeat)**

Introverted

Chapter Forty-Nine

Blood was everywhere. Shikamaru was on the ground; face first and mouth filled with dirt. He could feel the bits and pieces of rock grate at his gums, as the coppery taste of the crimson fluid touched his tongue. He shuddered and convulsed.

He had avoided the lethal blow. He had lowered his head just in time, thankful of the lessons with his father. He had done that…and the man had proceeded _to kick him through two trees and half a mile in the ground_. Shikamaru coughed out as he slowly turned, his bones and muscles creaking in protest as he rolled with his chest upwards, to watch with bleary eyes the sky, which was slowly but surely turning a dark shade of purple and red.

The clouds looked crimson, like blood.

Would they cry, when he finally exhaled his last breath?

He watched the man poise for his final strike, and exhaled…_what a troublesome way to die_.

Kiba could not stop running, or he'd lose the trail. Akamaru was next to him, barking and panting. Yet the Kiri Kunoichi knew how to run. She avoided Shino's swarms with Hinata's help, which made it more difficult to stall her or stop her definitely. He snarled and gulped down a red pill, feeling his heart increase its rhythm.

As he twisted in the Tsuga move to get ahead, an enormous drop of pressure flung him away from his feet together with Shino —but also with the enemy.

A roar quaked and cracked the land, as the Nibi charged ahead. With every step the Bijuu took, the ground screamed its agony and tore itself apart in a shower of lightning and fire. The trees burned, reduced to charcoal splinters within mere instants of contact.

Naruto hissed as he felt the heat come closer, and as his very skin _burned_, he screamed back. His eyes turned crimson as sand rushed up from the ground in columns of golden powder. They twisted and crashed against the open mouth of the Nibi, as golden chakra flowed through his hands.

The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki opened his mouth, his throat engorging in rapid succession as blast after blast of concentrated chakra rays erupted to slam against the enemy's face.

There was another roar, and a wall of cerulean fire turned to glass the columns of sand, before shattering at the passage of the electric current upon them.

He clapped his hands together and shrieked, a typhoon of air contrasting the electricity. He landed with a fast cartwheeling move on the charred and cooling ground, his breathing slow and controlled.

_Misery. I want to remain beautiful forever! Why can't I live until the end of time!?_

_Hatred. Youngsters…their beauty…is mine. Mine! Not theirs! Mine!_

He ducked, sidestepped and then sliced ahead with his hands elongated into claws, before twisting his body and slamming a golden tanuki-like tail against the stomach of the red haired woman that had appeared from the ground to strike at him.

Atop the tail of gold was a crimson one, which seemed to overshadow the first. He heard the heat increase and the pressure drop drastically, before he avoided an ionized ray of…he couldn't call that thing fire —it was _plasma_, to say the least. The blue electric plasma ray shot forward, rearranging the very landscape to form a fissure of charred earth on the ground where it struck.

The Nibi purred in her flickering blue fire before opening its mouth to cough out enormous amounts of small fist sized pellets of fire. They looked easy to dodge and innocuous enough.

The first one touching the ground detonated, taking away five burnt trees and leaving behind a crater _the size of a house_. When the rest of the veritable horde began to descend, Naruto took a deep steadying breath, and then erupted with chakra from his mouth as a second tail of crimson emerged from his back.

_Hatred. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die._

_Malice. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die._

The roar became deafening, as a tornado of pure foul chakra —of a dark purple colour— formed around Naruto's mouth absorbing the falling fire pellets. The moment the tornado began to shine from the incoming explosion…the creature covered in a thick and dark chakra cloak, with three tails of crimson and one of gold, devoured it and smirked.

His entire body enlarged, before —in front of the smitten Nibi Jinchuuriki— he _smiled_ and _shot it back tenfold_.

She barely dodged, feeling the heat and the unbelieving power of the attack tear apart _the_ _very mountain behind her_.

The next moment, the creature was in front of the Nibi's nose, fiercely gripping it with its claws. He was floating in mid-air, his face a mixture of horrifying features with dark and jagged teeth and bright yellow eyes that seemed to _shine_. He gripped her tightly by the muzzle…and then flung her on her back with a cackling laugh, smashing the ground as she gave out a scream that sounded more of pain than of anything else.

Then, the crimson tails shot forth, and burst through the cerulean fires to pierce the sides of the Bijuu.

In that moment, the battlefield became eerily quiet.

Naruto opened his eyes to a hall of white, and soon dodged a fist coming for his face. The Nibi Jinchuuriki stood there angrily hissing at him, making a swipe with her right hand extended to look like a claw. When he dodged that, she half-spun around to kick him with her right foot, connecting with his stomach and making him clutch the _tenderized_ area.

He brought up his right hand to slam away her left palm coming down on him, before twisting his leg in a crude kick. She grabbed a hold of it and pulled him closer, before delivering a terrifying punch to his chest, sending him on the ground. He coughed out blood as he spun and made the woman fall down, before standing back up and twisting his body to eject five kunai from his sleeves, which the Kumo Jounin parried with her own blade.

The next moment, Naruto's Yoroi Toshi stabbed ahead and intersected with a chakra blade from Kumo. Sparks rose in the air as Naruto screamed a 'Kya!' to riposte the blow. Losing her footing from the surprise, Naruto lowered his body like a coiled spring, and then jumped forward Tanto drawn.

Yugito brought up her blade to parry, only for the tip of the Yoroi Toshi to _pierce_ _through_ the metal and break the sword apart. The Jinchuuriki of Kumo twisted her body, using her long hair as a whip that slammed against his wrist, disarming him and forcing him to nurse his limb. With a snarl, Yugito drew closer once more.

Naruto evaded the arched kick over his head, only for Yugito to use the other leg to flex and jump in mid-air, then spin and land a punch on the boy's back. Once more, Naruto fell on the ground coughing as the woman's weight settled on him.

Pushing with brute strength alone, Naruto lifted the Jounin upwards and then flung a fist against her own stomach. Yugito barfed her own saliva from the strength of the blow against her guts, but then grabbed with both hands his wrist —already wounded— and pressed strongly against it.

Naruto screamed and pushed her away, before wiping away the sweat from his brows. Yugito spat a drip of blood to her side, and then smirked.

"Well…this cat is giving the fox a run for his money."

"Naughty kitties should just be spanked," Naruto roared as he dashed forward, fist extended.

Yugito met his fist with hers, and soon they weren't even bothering about defending each other. There was a maddening laughter in the air as Yugito's right fist connected with Naruto's cheek, the bone fracturing and the blood gushing to the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki mouth. Naruto's own fist slammed against the side of Yugito's head, making her see fuzzy and double, but not stopping her onslaught.

His own didn't stop either, and soon they began to parry each other's blows until they both grabbed the opponents' arms and held. Yugito delivered him a head-butt first, before kneeing him in the stomach _thrice in rapid succession_.

Naruto keeled over, and in that moment, Yugito delivered a devastating uppercut that sent him on the ground. The boy groaned and tried to lift his head and body, but she charged ahead, slamming her knee against his face and then pushing him on the ground as she palmed a kunai from her sleeve. She brought it to his throat and then hissed, breathing hard.

"Now give me a good reason not to kill you, Kyuubi Jinchuuriki," Yugito threatened, pushing the side of the kunai closer to his throat, enough to trickle blood.

He looked back at her, and found himself lacking a reply.

He hadn't fought her to save Hinata —he hadn't talked to the girl more than once, during the exams. He hadn't actually been fighting for the village, or because it was his duty. He had been fighting for greed, for the need to prove he was stronger. He had been fighting for his own benefit.

That wasn't something a hero said to the evil shinobi, was it?

Then again, he had learned the hard way that there were no heroes and no devils —only shinobi.

"Please do," a rumbling voice echoed in the middle of the white nothingness. "Nothing would amuse me more."

The next moment, the whiteness cracked and splintered as dark purplish chakra oozed out as if the cracks were festering wounds. Rotten limbs and torn apart bones grew from the wounds inflicted upon the white walls, rotting and rusting everything upon their passage. Blood, thick and crimson, began to drip down from the very ceiling that turned a darker shade of red as it seemed to impregnate with blood its surface.

Bars of iron and chains of flesh and bones twisted together with the purple chakra, as the horrifying mutation that rose from the ground itself was a mixture of both the Kyuubi and the Ichibi. The Kyuubi's body was slowly absorbing the one-tailed Tanuki, but as it did, it looked as if he was nothing more than a two-headed deformed horror.

"There is nothing I would enjoy more," the two heads of the 'creature' snarled, "Then to see him _suffer_."

The chains bound and held him still, yet more and more rose in their twisted putrescence to stop the tailed demon from freeing himself as, for every chain that rose, another snapped and oozed pus and blood on the ground.

It was a sickening scene.

"What is this?" Yugito hissed, pushing her kunai to Naruto's throat, to the point where blood began to trickle out alongside the sharp metal blade.

"I was the Kyuubi," the creature spoke, "And I will be the Kyuubi once more, when this torture ends and the Ichibi is completely consumed by me. Until then, I bide my time watching and _suffering_." The last part came with sarcasm dripping from every word, as its crimson and golden eyes narrowed to slits.

"What is this place!?" Yugito snarled once more towards Naruto. "Is this a Genjutsu? Is this an illusion?"

The rotten limbs surged forward through the cracks, aimed at both Naruto and Yugito. The Kumogakure Jounin cartwheeled backwards, giving Naruto the time to roll out of harm's way as the column of rotten limbs smashed in the spot they had been before.

"You think this is but an illusion? Then why are you not fighting it?" the Kyuubi-Ichibi remarked, chuckling dryly.

"This isn't real," Yugito murmured, bringing her hands together in the normal 'release' seal. "Kai!"

"I assure you," the monster whispered again, "This is as real as you and me."

Voices rose from the corner of the room, corpses opening their mouths to shriek in eerily terrifying tones that felt like ushered whispers.

_She's the Nibi Jinchuuriki! Stay away from her!_

_She's going to kill you if she hears what you're saying, be careful!_

_Why did she kill Takeo!? Why!?_

_She's nothing but a monster!_

"No, that…that was the Nibi, I…it was an accident during training!" Yugito screamed back at the monster.

"_They insult me, let them suffer_," the Kyuubi whispered with his voice feminine and similar to that of the Jinchuuriki of the Nibi. "_Maybe I'll lose control of the Nibi during training and let them feel my pain for once!"_

"No…those were…only thoughts," Yugito murmured, clenching her hands. "I didn't plan to do it!"

"_YOUR MALICE WAS CLEAR!_" the Kyuubi's head roared as the pressure of the wind increased, tearing apart the rotten columns of torn limbs and scattering the flesh around, blood spraying like a thin red mist in the now corrupted and rusty-looking hall they were in. Blood reached to their ankles, as Naruto's eyes narrowed.

Where was Mito in all of this?

"Maybe they were!" Yugito snarled back, her frame slightly trembling. "But so what!? They deserved it! I'm not going to cry for something like that!"

"_Kill or be Killed_," the Ichibi's head replied, "_Is this all the world is about_?"

Naruto ground his teeth as he looked around. His eyes caught a light sheen of blue from a corner of the room and moved before he could think properly. Slamming his shoulder against Yugito's sides, he pushed her away from the blue spheres of fire that would have otherwise hit her.

Yugito rolled back on her feet and was about to snap at him, when she saw the Nibi's form roar from the corner appearing in all of its majestic flames. The blue spheres connected with another corner of the hall, detonating and blowing up plumes of black smoke as the rotten limbs turned themselves to ashes where the flames touched.

"Well," the Nibi laughed. "I'm finally stretching my legs!" she purred and shook her giant flaming head. "And there are morsels to feast upon too, I bet…"

"Th…That's impossible! You were sealed!" Yugito's scream died out, smothered by a sharp and shrill laughter from the twin-tailed cat of fire.

"Little girl…didn't I tell you that if you were to fight the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, you would lose? Of course that is inconsequential, because he would lose too," the Nibi looked towards the Kyuubi. "Brother couldn't hold himself up any longer, could he?"

"That he couldn't," the Kyuubi whispered back softly. "He is nothing more than a lump of chakra now, which I'm slowly absorbing…"

"All must die eventually," the Nibi acquiesced. "I felt his soul depart. Then again, it's not death when he lives on in us, is it?"

"Indeed," the Kyuubi agreed.

"Shall I break the chains that bind you, brother?"

Naruto paled. He clenched his fist and carefully eyed his Yoroi Toshi…but if he was in his own mind, did he really need to—

The Yoroi Toshi appeared in his hand.

He firmly gripped onto it then. At least…he had an advantage now.

"No," the Kyuubi replied. "There is…a threat, I saw."

"What could possibly be such a threat for us together, brother?"

Yugito was silent; her entire body looked as if she was ready to make a run for it —the only problem was that there was nowhere to run. Trapped as they were, Naruto had the distinct impression that Mito would not be able to save him.

"Two of our brethren have already been claimed by the enemy, and they have used the body of our complete form to entrap them. I too felt drawn to it, but was able to hold on by remaining here."

"I see," the Nibi murmured. "Do you think father meant that, when he told us of our new form?"

"No, I doubt it," Kurama shook his head. "Do not forget, Matatabi, _our names are gifts_. To lose them like that…I accepted the burden of Shukaku as a mercy, but I did not wish for it."

"I know that," the cerulean Bijuu whispered, her voice low. "Still, to remain in the wretched body of that…that frail creature! You cannot ask me this!"

Her eyes shone furious as she looked towards Yugito, who took a step backwards instinctively.

"Unfortunately," Kurama murmured, "It is a matter of instincts," the Kyuubi shook his head. "To become whole, our own bodies betray us. Even now, my tongue thirsts for your chakra. It is like a corruptive influence that never ends."

"So I should be a prisoner of my own will?" Matatabi said, "To _that_? No, brother…I prefer _oblivion_ in your embrace to _slavery_. I saw enough death in the world. Shinobi run rampant with death, using the gift of our father for warfare and devastation, rather than the peace he had asked them to create. Death is coming, brother. I feel it in my very bones, in my soul…is that why Shukaku died, because he could not resist the incoming misery?"

"Be as it may," the nine tailed fox replied, "I will not grant it to you," Kurama whispered. "I killed one too many of my brothers, I will not do so again."

"Then I will force your hand!" the Nibi screamed. "I have been enslaved long enough!"

A typhoon of cerulean flames erupted from the Bijuu's mouth, only for a wall of sand and rotten limbs to rise and stop the onslaught, as more columns of putrid flesh blocked the cat's limbs and mouth. The Kyuubi's eyes settled on Naruto firmly, before he spoke.

"The Nibi must be defeated," he said gravely. "But not consumed. This is your mind, and thus you must push her back."

"Oh, yeah, let me bow and obey your will Kyuubi! Right!" Naruto snapped back. "Like last time, huh!? Not a chance in hell!"

"I do not care if you perish, Naruto Uzumaki," his eyes growled. "I would like nothing more than to be free, to roam the Earth and cleanse it once more…but I have to care, for if you perish while we are trapped here, in the limbo of your rotten and diseased mind, then what awaits me outside is but another form of slavery...one I will not tolerate any longer. On that, you have to believe me."

"Try again!" Naruto swept his right hand forward, as if to rebuke his attempts at diplomacy. "You can lie to me once, twice…but in the end…"

"You were sorry you didn't listen to me once! Was that a lie of yours!?"

Naruto stilled as he bit his tongue. "No, it wasn't," he whispered softly.

"Then know this: the Nibi must be rebuked out of this place. Return her to her cage and then, _only then_, kill her."

"What!?" Yugito's scream made Naruto wince. "What of me then!? What happens when the Nibi dies?"

"You are the Nibi's cage," the Kyuubi growled. "It is not a matter of what, but of when. If Matatabi escapes, you die. If she dies, you die. If she gains control of yourself, you die. You will die no matter the outcome, Yugito Nii."

She fell down on her knees, shuddering. "N-No! There has to be something I can do! Come on! You're just a lying sack of shit! I trained harder than anyone else did to control the Nibi! I can control her, seal or no seal! I trained since I was two years old! They always said I could, and in the end I did!" she screamed the last part clenching her fists, slowly standing back up determined to prove the fox wrong.

"Can you, really?" Kurama laughed. "You initiated this, mortals. You are the one to blame. In the beginning, we were all but one. We separated, but on a deeper level, we remained attached all the same. The connection we share, the one thing that you humans cannot take from us, that is the doom that befalls Jinchuuriki who battle one another."

The sand began to turn crimson from the heat, the mount of limbs slowly combusting as the Matatabi's screams became stronger and stronger from its momentary cage.

"When two Jinchuuriki battle, only one walks away unscathed," Kurama murmured. "How else could balance be achieved? It is in our very nature to strike for unity, yet our hearts demand our separation, for the will of our father is what guides us…" he turned his crimson orbs to Naruto. "This much, I swear upon the sage of the six paths is true: kill the Nibi, and you will set back the incoming onslaught of at least _two, maybe three_ years —that much time will be required for the deaths to pile up once more, and recreate my sister."

He then looked towards Yugito. "On the other hand, if you believe the woman's words…then find something you believe in, something that gives you strength beyond your limits, and use it as your strength to push out the Nibi from your mind."

"Ehi, Kyuubi," Naruto whispered then, as his eyes widened. "If you were to die…when would you reform?"

Columns of blue fire erupted from the sizzling mount in the background, already cracking apart.

"What a stupid question," the Kyuubi growled. "_Two years."_

"So…so the thing you need to prevent…is supposed to happen within the next year?" Naruto's eyes widened as realization dawned on him. The words the Kyuubi had spoken…

"What is supposed to happen within the next year?" Yugito asked then, her face ashen and pale.

"A war, what a stupid question that is," the Kyuubi sighed just as the Nibi freed itself from its prison. "I will remain here…defeat her, Naruto Uzumaki, so that we may speak again afterwards."

Naruto looked at Yugito Nii, and then exhaled. "Hold the Nibi off…I'll try and push her out."

There was a moment, where the eyes of the Kumogakure Jounin actually softened on him —it was an instant, which soon was gone as the woman nodded sternly.

Naruto swallowed nervously. His throat was parched, his mind filled with different thoughts. He didn't know _why_ he was fighting so hard, why he was trying to help the woman anyway. It had to be the words whispered. It was easy to consider an enemy such, if you didn't know his background. How easy was it to look at a fellow man, and call him monster, evil, demon, without knowing his past. Once his past manifested however…

It became difficult, not to draw comparisons.

What was he fighting for, that gave him strength?

Sakura? Weren't they just tasting the waters of their relationship? Was that even 'love'? He didn't know. He couldn't know. What was love to begin with? Accepting the other side unconditionally? Turning a blind eye to their madness? She couldn't be the only reason he fought for. It wasn't enough…

What else?

Was he fighting for the village?

_No_.

The teammates fighting with him now, to rescue Hinata?

_No_.

A higher cause?

_No_.

But he needed _something_. He needed something that made his actions right and just, something that made them '_more'_. Being a shinobi…it didn't excuse needing to have an ideal. Kakuzu was a man of greed and money —that was his ideal.

What was his? What made him fight more, what made him stronger?

Had he forgotten that? How could he forget that?

For who or what would he stand up again, to fight even when grievously wounded?

He shuddered. He closed his eyes as the paw of the Matatabi came close to tearing his head off…and then the body of Yugito Nii, who ground her teeth and stood her ground, blocked it. The fire passed harmlessly through the woman's skin.

"Why are you stopping me, you daft woman!?" the Nibi screamed. "Isn't he an enemy too!? I would have made your death painless!"

"If I have to die," Yugito muttered out. "Then I'm _TAKING YOU WITH ME!_" she roared as expelled a wave of electricity, which made Matatabi scream and jump back, its twin tails swishing in the air frantically. "_**YOU ARE THE REASON I WAS HATED! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!**_" Yugito screamed as she charged ahead. "And if I have to suffer this because of you," she continued, her right hand morphing into an elongated claw filled with electricity, "Then I want you to feel my pain too!"

The Nibi roared as a Bijudama formed in her mouth, the dark chakra shining brightly as it exploded outwards in a ray, only for Yugito to flicker away from its path and right next to it. She crashed against the two-tailed cat with her claw-hand extended, scratching and tearing apart both fire and skin as the demon screamed from the pain of the wound.

"What are you waiting for, Naruto?" Kurama asked in a low murmur, his gaze settling on the frozen boy who had both hands to his hair, his eyes wide and trembling. His eyes glazed over, as if he had lost his purpose.

"W-What am I fighting for?" he croaked. "Money? Fame? Power? Strength? Love? What? What is it!? What is this _emptiness_ I feel!?"

The Kyuubi closed his eyes and smiled, before resting his head down between his paws as the chains pushed tightly to hold him still. "Every human will tell you that they fight for those who cannot fight," his eyes moved to Yugito, who was screaming in despair as she fought fiercely against her own demon. "Every human will tell you that they fight to protect, to defend, to safeguard…they will tell you they fight, so that another does not need to."

He took a single breath. "_They will all be wrong_. People fight for _ideals_. They fight for the _ideal_ of earning money, or for the ideal of survival. They fight, they bleed, and they die upon the ground because they truly believe they are right. The moment an ideal cracks, the moment it is broken, the human loses himself. They will die believing in their ideals, but they will break and wither if their beliefs are broken."

The Kyuubi's head shook. "Humans' spirits are unfathomably strong, but when they break…rarely can they be brought back to their previous shine."

"It's just that…I don't understand," Naruto muttered. "Do you want me to live? Do you want me to die?"

"I want you to die, Naruto Uzumaki, but not now," Kurama replied firmly. "You are no different than those who came before, but at the moment, you are my salvation from losing what little the Sage gifted me. My name…it was his gift to me, do you understand that? My identity…my miserable and pitiable self…he gifted it to me…and I'll be damned if I lose it to my baser instincts!" his tails swished and flickered, as the rot that had accumulated, the blood that reached Naruto's ankles…it began to burn.

"I am the purifying flames of the world! I am the bearer of malice and its executioner! _**I AM KURAMA!**_ My task, my objective, my ideal…is to defeat malice, to end a cycle of viciousness and death. My cause is just; no matter the blood I will spill to complete it, I will never falter upon this!"

The Kyuubi roared as the ground cracked, crimson chakra erupting and tearing apart a rotten mount of corpses that looked bleary eyed in Naruto's direction, their looks so familiar it made the boy's soul shudder. How many kids were there among those corpses? There were too many…too many to count. "What is your purpose, Naruto Uzumaki? What is your dream? For without a dream, without an objective…you might as well be dead. Only through our dreams and ideals, do we find the strength to go on."

Yugito roared as she slammed her shoulder against the Nibi itself, making the demon wince as the cat-like paws tried to slam down on the small Jounin —for the Bijuu— and failed. Like an annoying rat, it was difficult to get a clear hit on the woman, but even then…even then she knew it was just a matter of time.

A Bijuu could not grow tired…a human on the other hand…

Naruto winced, bringing his right hand to his temple.

_I want to become…_

_I want to protect my teammates…I want to…I…_

_I…want to become stronger…but why?_

"_I'll be… just you wait!" what did he want to become?_

"_I WANT TO BECOME…" what? What did he want to become!?_

"_They'll have to recognize me if I become…" WHAT WAS IT THAT HE WAS MISSING!?_

"_They'll recognize me, just you wait! I'll be the best…" what? __**WHAT**__? __**WHAT!?**__**WHAT WAS HE MISSING!?**_

Naruto screamed as he pressed both of his hands against the sides of his head. He screamed as he felt his very soul shudder and crack, his mind splinter as the walls and the halls of rotten rust and blood that were the confines of his mind… _suddenly_ _broke_.

_"My dream is…to make friends." He said out loud, "And to keep them no matter what."_

_How could he make friends, if he did not trust anyone?_

And so…so Naruto Uzumaki screamed once more until his throat turned raw, as the bubbling sensation that surrounded him became sheer agony and pain while he pushed away the burning mass of cerulean chakra that was the Nibi from the confines of his mind.

But a little bit remained behind, because he was so tired of fighting…so, so tired…

_The Sin of Death…when the soul departs, Misery comes away first, peeled to grant the soul ascension. Then comes the acknowledgement that they have indeed departed, and the sadness of those left behind burns away gently in the light of a pale blue candlelight. Without it, a soul cannot reach the next stage. Unless stripped of all its sins…a soul cannot move on and be reborn pure._

Yugito was bleeding from her sides, charred flesh covering her body. She shuddered and opened her eyes to the devastation wrought. She looked around in fear, touching her body as she felt the spasms of her sore muscles make her stand up in pain. She was back. She was out of that nightmare.

She could feel the burning sensation deep within her stomach, the blood oozing out from her mouth as she felt weak, terribly so.

What she saw first, however…

It was a pale-skinned boy, holding a paintbrush and a murderous gaze over her.

"Move and you will die," he remarked. "The seal is still fresh. _Do not move_." With a terrifying thought, she looked towards her shoulder and nearly screamed in _fear_: The Iron Seal was no longer present, but a different seal stood instead near her bellybutton.

She could still hear the screams echo through the clearing, even as the unknown shinobi wearing a red mantle kept on drawing upon her stomach. She exhaled, feeling weakness clout her thoughts. Maybe she could rest for a while?

But…what of the Kyuubi?

Her eyes went past the devastation around her, towards a burning cyclone of crimson flames against which a giant orange toad was currently guzzling water. A giant toad could only mean…

"Jiraiya of the Sannin…" she murmured.

"Indeed," the boy replied. "You should be grateful. Had he not intervened, this would have turned ugly fast."

"He's of Konoha," Yugito muttered.

"Once more, you are correct," the boy replied. "I am too. I also took the liberty of applying twenty-five variations of an explosive tag on your new seal, which will activate depending on a variety of factors I will not disclose," the boy's smile was positively _ferocious_ in its frightening ability. "So, _do not attempt to run if you value your life_, all right?"

She swallowed nervously and nodded quite furiously, hoping the boy would just stop smiling because it _was scaring her_.

Jiraiya hissed in frustration. The seal…how had it possibly been torn so badly? No, it had to be worse than that —the tails were still sprouting! He was at five currently, and already the clouds were turning crimson and raining down scathing hot water. The ground melted beneath his feet, and for all Jiraiya knew…maybe, the chakra suppressing seals he had on his person would not be enough.

"Gamabunta! Get him in mid-air!" he bellowed to the lord of the Toad summons, who grumbled back.

"You think it's easy?" the giant toad's blade emerged as it sliced forward, the tip crushing the ground as the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki simply ducked it and then began to climb over it with unparalleled speed. That was when Gamabunta smiled. "Got ya, bugger."

He threw his own sword in the air, where it began to spin furiously. Naruto's five-tailed state screamed as it jumped away from the blade, and in that instant…Jiraiya jumped and slammed all twenty-seven chakra suppression seals he had on his person on the stupid brat that was Minato's son.

The corrosive chakra of the Kyuubi sizzled furiously, and then finally came undone. One would have been enough…but as his sensei used to tell him 'Better safe than sorry'.

Moreover, with twenty-seven chakra seals on him, he doubted he'd have to fight the Kyuubi again for a long time —if the boy didn't become comatose, that was.

He landed then and took a deep breath of relief. The biggest trouble out of the way…he wondered where the rest of the shinobi were.

Shikamaru's sight was blurry, as he watched the enemy shinobi known as Fudo move closer with a sadistic grin on his face. He closed his eyes and sighed. It was too troublesome to try to fight more. He had lost and he was going to die. Maybe, in doing so, he'd see that troublesome blonde again?

Even if he did…it would be too troublesome.

He still had to apologize properly to Ami. The girl had done her best to enter the team; even listening to one of his off-handed comments about how only blonde-haired women were as troublesome as she was. She had become blonde _because_ of him. In the end, the girl had just wanted to be accepted.

He waited anxiously for the attack to come, and as it didn't, he opened his eyes again.

The man was holding his throat as if he was being choked, frothing from his mouth as his eyes widened in disbelief. Shikamaru winced as a cold hand touched his shoulder.

"Are you all right?" Ami asked carefully, appearing from the corner of the tree.

"Ami?" he coughed out, blood splattering on the ground as he nearly fell over, "You were…supposed to…help Kiba and..."

Ami held him firmly down against the trunk, quickly unwrapping a painkiller from one of his own pouches —she was still a Genin, and thus didn't have one.

"Save your breath," she murmured. "Hibachi got Chouji to safety; he's going to help out Kiba and Shino."

"What did you do to him?" Shikamaru asked then, watching the convulsing body of Fudo.

"I…I threw a senbon needle coated with poison inside his mouth," she muttered back. "You know what they say of kunoichi and poison, right?"

He chuckled nervously. "Right…thanks…Ami."

"I'm your teammate," she whispered back, carefully helping him up and passing one of her arms behind his back and one of his own over her shoulder. "What else am I here for?"

"Thanks all the same…"

Then, he fell into blissed unconsciousness as the painkiller took effect.

Haku didn't know how long she had been running with the Hyuga on her back. She knew the enemy was getting closer and closer. Her sandals cracked against the surface of a nearby branch, and soon the barking of the Inuzuka's dog came closer. If only, there was some water…anywhere…

In that moment, a thunder streaked across the sky as if answering her call, Kami had replied with rain. She slowly deposited Hinata down on the ground, smiling at the perplexed Hyuga.

The two Konoha shinobi who were pursuing her stilled too, as the Aburame spoke.

"Have you stopped running?"

"Give Hinata back!" Kiba screamed. "Hinata! We'll save you, don't worry!"

"Get away from me, you demons!" the girl screamed back.

"Kiba-san, it is of no use," Shino remarked, slowly removing his glasses as his Kikkaichu began to buzz excitedly. "We have to take her by force." His sleeves flapped as the swarms within his body and vest erupted, guided by his chakra as he twisted his arms like a _maestro_ of an orchestra. The swarm buzzed as it flew through the thick rain, their strain resistant to water and Suiton techniques, and crashed against a wall of ice.

Soon, it stopped raining.

_Because it began to snow._

"I am of the Yuki clan," Haku said calmly. "I am thus sorry," ice formed on the ground within a mere instant, freezing both Kiba and Shino's legs. "But your death…is now inescapable." The wave of cold froze the swarms of Shino in an instant, making the Kikkaichu all fall on the ground like tiny Popsicle, tiny insect-filled Popsicles.

Shino mentally cursed. There went his water resistant hive.

"I don't care what your clan you're from!" Kiba yelled back. "Hinata's my friend! She belongs to my team, my pack! And I will get her back, no matter the cost! Akamaru!"

The dog yipped as both of them suddenly ate a red pill —Akamaru's pill being thrown by Kiba himself.

"You can have all the bloodlines in the world! You can belong to whatever clan you want! _**BUT YOU CAN'T TAKE A MEMBER OUT OF AN INUZUKA'S PACK WITHOUT PAYING THE PRICE IN BLOOD!**_"

"_**JINJU KONBI HENGE: SOTORO!"**_ the ice cracked and splintered as Akamaru and Kiba became one. An enormous twin headed dog with white fur roared as it pounced forward, twisting its body into a spiral of death and devastation.

In that moment, Shino broke the ice holding his feet down with a kunai and charged flanking the enemy.

"Haku-san! To your left!"

"Damn it, Hinata!" Kiba's roar came through both heads. "_**STOP HELPING THE ENEMY!**_"

The kunoichi spun, waves of frozen air glinting dangerously for an instant…before they swept straight towards him as she graciously avoided the typhoon of fangs and claws that was Kiba.

Shino had barely the time to bring both of his arms up, that he slammed back against a nearby tree and froze to the spot. He shuddered as the sudden chill made his heart skip a beat. He felt cold, his temperature dropping as his heart…his heart _stopped_.

He received a sudden shock a moment later and exhaled loudly in relief. Kikkaichu within one's own body could generate enough electricity to jump-start a stopped heart after all…

He was glad he was an Aburame.

If only he had a way to get Hinata to stop delivering information to the enemy…the Hyuga's eyes could see chakra through surfaces, and his Kikkaichu had small chakra systems the size of a Tenketsu. If only he had another shinobi, he could use them as a cover for his swarm…

The moment Hibachi arrived running from the side, Kunai in hand and charging at Hinata, he knew he had found his running wall of Tenketsu. Haku hit the Genin with a sharp sword of ice in the sides, as she ducked another incoming attack from the Inuzuka. The Genin looked with wide eyes at the pointed finger of Hinata against him, the Hyuga having warned the Kunoichi of his advance, and as he coughed out blood…he fell down. The next instant, Shino's Kikkaichu rose buzzing and shot through the air, attaching to Hinata's entire frame to suck on her chakra.

Hinata screamed as Haku spun around trying to understand what was going on, but before she could react, the distraction proved fatal —as Kiba hadn't stopped attacking at all. The giant paw of the Inuzuka tore through the Kunoichi's sides, sending her to tumble and crash on the ground before she heard her bones snap from the strength of the impact. She coughed out blood and, beneath the downpour of rain, exhaled her last breath.

As her vision clouded, and the chill of the shinigami came to her soul, she couldn't help but start crying together with the rain.

She could no longer be of use to Zabuza-sama…

That…that _sin_ would send her to hell.

Sakura ignored the feeling of dread as she ran across the hospital's corridors, reaching the room and opening the door with a strong bang. Heavily bandaged, Naruto was soundly sleeping attached to heart monitors, with Tsunade herself looking over his medical charts. Next to her was the Toad Sage and…

"Sai!" she exclaimed in relief, bringing a hand to her heart as she tried to calm it down.

"Hush," Tsunade barked back, before looking at the monitors.

"Cherry," Sai smiled at her gently. "Has Harem Lord added som—"

Then Fu entered the room too. "Is Naruto eating with us?"

"Why did I even ask…" Sai muttered, calmly taking out a piece of parchment and scribbling down on it.

"All right, only teammates in here for the moment," Tsunade said a moment later, gesturing Fu and Jiraiya to leave. "And someone should warn Shizune: I'll be busy for a while, correcting mistakes my stupid teammate did," she grumbled. Jiraiya sheepishly scratched the back of his head, before leaving. Fu remained outside in wait.

"Hokage-sama?" Sakura asked, carefully moving to the other side of Naruto's bed and gently grabbing his hand. "Is he…"

"He's fine, somewhat," Tsunade exhaled. "I don't know how much 'fine' you'd like him to be though," she shook her head. "What I can tell you is that he suffered through severe chakra depletion, had multiple burns all across his body and in agony just until we hooked him up with enough painkillers to douse an elephant…and he nearly woke up even then."

"So he'll wake up?" Sakura asked again, holding tightly onto Naruto's hand.

"Tomorrow I'll lower his pain medications, but for today…it's best if he sleeps through it."

"T-Thank you, Hokage-sama," Sakura replied with relief clearly discernible in her voice. She looked towards Fu, "Can she come in too?"

"Don't make a noise," the Hokage warned as she nodded, before moving to leave. "If he manages to stave off the painkillers and wakes up, tell a nurse to call me, understood?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Sakura nodded firmly.

Tsunade left then, leaving behind Sakura, Fu and Sai to stare at one another around Naruto's hospital bed.

"Sai…it's…it's good to see you," Sakura muttered as she slowly let go of Naruto's hand to walk around the bed and hug the raven-haired teen. "How was it, one year of apprenticeship with Jiraiya of the sannin?"

"Perverted," he remarked with a stone face.

Sakura's forehead sported a tick mark. "Are you abusing the Hokage's order not to make a fuss?"

"Guilty," he replied with a light smirk. She smiled at that, before taking a chair from the outside and placing it near Naruto's bed —there always were two chairs in a private hospital bedroom, thus the need for a third.

Two Anbu stood guard outside, as she slid to a close the door of the hospital room. She sat down once more next to Naruto, and gripped his hand strongly with her fingers. She sighed.

"You think he does it on purpose?" Sakura asked carefully. "To be hospitalized, I mean."

"He was not the only one of his team," Sai said. "Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi are currently in intensive care and another one of the team died. Had Jiraiya-sama not received an urgent warning to head towards the battle at the Valley of the End, we would have missed the entire battle."

"He'd have won anyway," Sakura replied. "Naruto's like that…he never gives up."

"Actually, Cherry…" Sai murmured. "He was losing control of the Bijuu."

Sakura looked stricken as her grip intensified, her skin turning pale as her eyes widened in disbelief. She exhaled after a few seconds, closing her eyes. "I'll turn grey haired before I hit twenty, if I worry like this every time," she muttered.

"He was sealed again?" Fu asked then carefully, looking at Naruto with a slightly worried face.

"Jiraiya-sama took care of that, and applied a temporary chakra suppression seal," Sai said. "Applying a complete seal will take a few days, but it will not be as good as his old one."

"What of his old seal? Can't they redo that?"

"Unfortunately, it requires a human soul to be sacrificed to the Shinigami willingly," Sai replied. "And the technique to call forth the Death God is known to only one living person as of now…"

His eyes grew darker.

"Orochimaru."

Itachi was perplexed.

Tobi was humming a happy note as they were heading towards the Kage Summit, and yet he couldn't help but notice there was something strange about his partner.

"Orochimaru was not in Uzushiogakure?"

"Nope," Tobi shook his head.

"I wondered…why didn't you take me with you first?"

"I wanted to have a private eye-to-eye chat with the man, know why he'd betray the organization and all!" Tobi chuckled. "Tobi's a good boy like that, you know?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow, but it lasted little when he saw Zetsu appearing from the ground in his plant-trap form.

"We have a problem," the flytrap said. "Orochimaru betrayed the organization…he began attacking Konoha shinobi earlier than intended. **The Backstabber should be eaten.** The Land of the Sky is not at full potential, **the Backstabber didn't complete it.** We have yet to claim the Gelel stone and to conquer Roran. **I say we eat the Backstabber.**"

"Tobi is really sad about that!" Tobi exclaimed clapping his hands. "What should we do, Zetsu-chan!? Orochimaru was a bad boy! I can't believe it!"

Zetsu sweat-dropped, "Yes…ahem," he coughed slightly. "**We should eat the Backstabber. **I think we should concentrate on completing our objectives. **Eating the Backstabber is fine too.** You two are heading towards the Hokage summit to make peace talk. **Of course, we are not making peace with the world. **They accepted the Kiri Mizukage after the rebellion. **They have no legal ground to pursue Pain-sama's reign now**. As expected, you are to represent us…Itachi, Tobi…use the forehead protectors of Amegakure when in the land of Iron. **Act diplomatic or I will eat you.**"

"Tobi will be a good boy!" Tobi clapped his hands excitedly once more. "He will be such a smart boy, _they'll think he's a snake beneath his skin!_"

"Yes…you do that," Zetsu replied calmly. "Itachi…make sure he doesn't talk too much."

Itachi nodded once.

Zetsu disappeared in the ground.

The two remained immobile for a moment more. "Shall we proceed according to our plan, Madara?"

"Why not," Tobi shrugged. "I'm a good boy after all: and you heard Zetsu…Orochimaru will probably attack the Kage Summit…better for us to be prepared to stop him before he does something bad!"

The masked shinobi shook his head. "Really…bad Orochimaru! I can't believe it!"

Itachi exhaled. He wondered why, every now and then, 'Madara' had to act like 'Tobi' even when alone.

Then again…

The Kage Summit would be interesting.

**Author's notes**

**Hibachi (Who?) is dead. This will have repercussions further down.**

**Ami is actually useful. Poisons are too.**

**Hope you liked the battle. Oro- Tobi's pun on snake…ha.**

**The Team Antiques will be back! Team Thirteen FTW.**

**And people will die, obviously.**

'_**War is coming'**_**…**

**If you go back to chapter with Juubi FlashBack you can read the Nine cursive words —each is the Bijuu's area of **_**expertise**_**. Course, their 'meaning' varies. **

**The Bakeneko/Nekomata could make the corpse of the dead shamble about, believing Wikipedia. *shrugs* I'm giving it all a more spiritual take.**


	50. Recover Your Purpose!

Introverted

Chapter Fifty

He felt a light pressure on his left hand, as he weakly opened his eyes. He exhaled, and then he winced. His muscles hurt, his skin felt itchy and hot. The sweat that had pooled on his back and attached the gown of the hospital to his skin made him uncomfortable. The gentle warmth he felt on his hand however felt good, even refreshing. He twitched his index finger slightly, eliciting a moan from the owner of said warmth.

His eyes cracked open a bit more, to reveal the sleeping pink-haired girl that was his teammate sleeping soundly with her head against the sides of his bed. There were two other chairs next to his bed, but those were empty. He closed his eyes slowly once more, the feeling of tiredness getting the better of him.

He breathed in slowly, letting the air push through his parched throat and into his paining lungs. He felt as if millions of needles had stabbed him repeatedly, and his bones creaked as he tried to grasp the straw of a water cup on his bed desk.

He was so thirsty…

That movement got a reaction. It was a twitch at first, but soon Sakura's head shot up immediately, her eyes wide and alert. She looked at him with a ragged breath for a single fleeting instant, and then tightened her grip on his hand with both of hers.

"I'm so glad," she croaked out with her eyes shining from unshed tears. "You're awake," her shoulders trembled slightly.

"Hey," he muttered weakly.

"You…" she began, but then hesitated. "Sai's back," she said then. "He was…he and Jiraiya-sama that is, they saved you."

"Ah," he closed his eyes. "So…they saw?"

"You nearly went full Kyuubi, believing Sai," Sakura swallowed nervously. "And they said your seal…it was gone. How could you…not say anything?"

"It…I don't know?" he hazarded slowly, earning himself a bitter smile from Sakura.

"Yeah, I suppose you don't, you Baka," she slowly stood up, pushing with her right hand's fingers one of her locks back behind her ear, before slowly bowing down to reach his lips.

She kissed him gently, her eyes closed as she just needed to _feel him alive_. She detached herself a moment later, her breath slow and calm. "Don't you ever do something like that again, Naruto. Understood?"

"Do I get another kiss if I do it anyway?"

Sakura smiled sweetly, clenching her fists. "No, but you get a fist to your face once you're back up on your feet the next time."

"Uh…Sakura-chan, that's unfair!" he exclaimed, before suddenly feeling a deep sharp pain in his chest as he began to cough, letting out a spray of blood on his right hand —that had come up to his mouth.

"Naruto!" Sakura's eyes widened. "Right, nurse! I need a nurse in here right now!" Sakura said with her low-keyed voice as she headed outside.

Naruto's cough subsided just as Sakura returned with Shizune. The brown-haired woman checked his heartbeat and some other stuff he had no idea about, before calming down the fussing Sakura who remained worriedly there. Sakura looked at him for a moment more, before finally making a startled gasp as if she had just then remembered something.

"Right! I need to warn Sai and hope Fu hasn't eaten everything in the fridge." Sakura was about to hurry outside, when she stilled at the doorway. "I'll be back as fast as I can!" she exclaimed towards him, before disappearing from view in a dash.

"She could have taken the window," Shizune said quietly, before eying Naruto, who just made an awkward smile back in her direction. "So…you are healing along nicely. A few days and you'll be up and about, ready to escort Tsunade-sama to Iron Country."

He blinked towards the woman, who just smiled at him. "I'm Shizune, Shizune Kato. I was Tsunade-sama's apprentice before she became Godaime. I won't be following you, but if you want to know more about Tsunade-sama's habits to better protect her…"

The woman trailed off. He just looked at her.

"Is everything all right?"

"Why do you fight?" he croaked out carefully. "What makes you stand, even when wounded to the brim of death?"

He looked at the hand Sakura had held a moment earlier. "This…this warmth," he smiled slightly. "It's good, isn't it?"

"I beg your pardon?" Shizune frowned. She had no idea what the boy was saying, but maybe he was still under shock or slightly taken by the painkillers —they _had_ dosed him as if he were an elephant after all.

"What do you fight for?" Naruto asked then. "The village? Your Hokage? Your family?"

"The village is my home," Shizune replied. "I would be sad to see it destroyed…and life is precious, when possible, it should be safeguarded."

She looked at him with a slightly worried look then.

"Did something happen on the mission, Uzumaki-san?"

"I was asked for which reason I fought," he muttered. "I…I think the Nibi Jinchuuriki fought because of her duty to the village, but I…I'm fighting for something else," he closed his eyes for a moment. "I," he shuddered. "I can't remember…"

"It might be a mild amnesia," Shizune remarked carefully, "You had some quite dangerous bruises all over your head and a few bits of your skull were actually _dented_," she added. "Which should be impossible, but I stopped believing it when I became Tsunade-sama's apprentice."

She clenched her medical chart slightly. "If you don't know why, then let me ask you…the girl before, Sakura…she's your teammate, right?"

He nodded hesitantly.

"You like her?"

He blinked, and then slowly gave another nod.

"Then…even if you don't remember, you could be fighting to protect her smile?"

"To protect her smile?" he parroted perplexed.

"People…some people fight to protect those precious to them, to guard them from harm. Being a shinobi…it isn't only about fighting for the village, but also defending the villagers, those we hold dear…safeguarding the innocent, healing the wounded…The duty to the village is usually never the first thing that comes to mind, when you ask someone why they fight."

He shuddered and laid back against the pillow, his eyes now transfixed on the ceiling. "To protect…those precious to me?"

"Yes," Shizune nodded. "That's a good ideal, isn't it?"

"And what happens," he asked then slowly, "What happens when there's no one left to protect?"

Shizune's smile faltered for a moment, before it came back. "We grieve those we could not save…and then we find more people that are precious to us."

"Thank you," he murmured, just as he heard the window open from the outside to admit both Sakura and Sai inside. Sai didn't look much different to him. He still was the pale-skinned boy with dark hair he had met in the classroom of the academy, but now there was a spruce of colour in a dark red mantle that hung from his shoulders. He also had a dark red hat —the type artists wear when drawing paintings outside, which in his opinion…was horrible.

"It was a pleasure," Shizune replied with a smile.

Sai looked at the scene and blinked, before turning to look at Sakura.

"He is worthy of his title, Cherry. He just added a nurse to his Harem."

Naruto coughed, as the chuckle that menaced to escape his throat became painful. Sakura didn't even hit Sai, instead blurring right to Naruto's side to hold on to his hand. The nurse checked on him for a moment more —a light blush on her face— before leaving to get some painkillers.

"Hey Sai," Naruto grinned weakly at his other teammate. "Long time no see…"

"Please avoid destroying the grammar of our tongue," Sai quipped back. "It has been a while, Dickless."

"Likewise, Pervert."

"Boys, play nice." Sakura chided, comfortably sitting on the chair next to Naruto.

"So, are there any Kinky Lords or Harem Cherries around?" Sai asked calmly, raising his right eyebrow and _wiggling_ it. "You had one year after all." Naruto sputtered. Since when did Sai 'wiggle' eyebrows!?

Sakura turned completely red. "S-Sai! No! We're too young! And we went on different patrols!"

"Live fast, go young," Sai deadpanned. "That's Jiraiya-sama's saying."

"_Go_…young?" Naruto asked with a curious gaze on his face.

Sai nodded. "He said 'fresh is better', and that 'a young woman a day makes old age okay'…or something like that."

"T-That pervert!" Sakura's hair began to rise as she clenched her teeth furiously. "Sai! What did he teach you apart these…these depravities!?"

"Jiraiya-sama taught me sealing, summoning and Earth techniques," Sai listed emotionlessly. "He also taught me how to illustrate porn for his novels and…" Sai actually produced two of said books from a small seal within his mantle. "He said to offer them to you and Naruto as special editions…in case you needed some imagination for future sexual counsel."

Sakura's utter redness and rage suddenly disappeared, as if she had attained Nirvana. She smiled —a small simple smile— and then slowly walked out. Both Naruto and Sai shuddered at the same time. It felt as if a deathly chill had just passed by.

Jiraiya of the Sannin felt the Shinigami creep on him the moment he settled down his telescope to peep on the women in the hot springs. The last thing he saw before falling into the scathing water of the springs —surrounded by female kunoichi— was the blurring fist of a pink-haired banshee hissing insults at him, as if she wanted to drag him to the underworld.

"_**PERVERT**_!" the screams of the Kunoichi did the rest.

Naruto carefully grabbed the proffered book while Sakura was out, and slowly opened it to the first page. He flipped a page. He read it. He flipped another.

He read it all the way down to the bottom.

He began to hum in contentment as he read, tapping with his finger on the back of the cover as he watched the images —sexy but not overtly pornographic— and kept on flipping page after page. He stopped every now and then to admire one of the artworks, and he was just about to find out what Zu would do of dirty with Zaruko and Zugito when…

Sakura took away his book, making a nervous and cranky smile as she slowly and methodically lowered it on the bed-desk near him. "The. Gift. Was. Fine. Sai." She uttered that out through clenched teeth and mechanically. "But if you gift porn again, I will have to _cleanse_ you like I did with your sensei," her smile was now perfectly expressing her desire for slaughter, which made Sai shudder and nod hastily.

"Very well!" Sakura smiled warmly as she exclaimed that in her low raucous voice, "Now…tell us something about what else you learn…something that isn't perverted at least."

They made small talk, but it was nice. The three of them spoke in turn for a bit, before Shizune returned with the pain medications. Naruto fell asleep soon afterwards, with Sakura gently passing her fingers through his hair. She smiled briefly at the sight of the boy's even breathing, before whispering to Sai.

"Hey, how long will you stay?"

"Enough," Sai replied. "My sensei will be escorting the Godaime to the Kage meeting. It is highly probable we will be taking missions together again."

Sakura nodded with a bright smile. "I'm glad," she swiped away a tear from her right eye. "I'm really happy you're back, Sai."

The boy nodded. "It's good to be back."

"Listen…" Sakura began carefully. "Can I ask you a question?"

Sai raised an eyebrow, but nodded once more. "Ask away."

"What's going to happen to Naruto now?" her voice was slightly cracked, as if the worry was eating her out alive. "He lost control of the Kyuubi, didn't he? What…what are they going to do?"

Sai frowned, before shrugging. "Jiraiya-sama will probably write another one and make it better. He had over ten years of time to think of improvements for the seal that held the Kyuubi down…I'm sure he'll manage something before he departs."

Sakura sighed in relief, swiping away a bead of sweat from her forehead. "Good…It's, it's really good to know."

Sai remained quiet afterwards, looking from Naruto to Sakura and back. He mulled it over for a moment, before suddenly understanding. His face twitched in a slight grin. "Cherry?"

"Yes?"

He asked Sakura a question.

Sakura turned beet red and then, calmly, _defenestrated_ Sai with a powerful punch.

"You don't ask that to a lady!" she added towards the open window, with a slightly peeved voice. Then she turned on herself and, huffing, sat back down next to Naruto. Really…asking if she and Naruto had…there was no way! She still had to get married, after all, and they were too young to _consume_ the…

That particular thought made her blush.

She fainted then, blood gushing out of her nose.

The Toad Sage was not happy. After escaping a representation of the underworld in the form of a pink banshee and a later horde of angry kunoichi, he was currently in his workshop trying to work out the last kinks of the new seal.

Jiraiya furiously walked in circles, as symbols upon symbols etched on the walls around him glowed lightly. His muttering was furious, and mostly incoherent. The seal he had to place on Naruto was to be airtight and fool proof, yet he couldn't just 'saw off' the Kyuubi's chakra abruptly.

In the best-case scenario, the shock to his chakra coils would kill him.

"Five per three," he whispered. "Add two, make seventeen. Divide because of the uneven…no, it might go against…is it nine or ten? Maybe twelve?" he shook his head. "Double or triple…no gaps?"

He slammed his head against the wall nearby. "Think, there has to be something…" he began to make slow calculative circles around the room once more, looking at the bits and pieces of ink all around. His gaze narrowed on a particular bit.

"Uhm…if I make the six a nine, then turn it upside down…" he winced. "No, that's stupid. If you turn upside-down a nine you get a six, not an upturned nine."

He blinked. "But…but if the exchange is _parallel_…" he began to chuckle. "Oh…oh! _**oh**_!" he clapped his hands excitedly. "It will be perfect! Matching chakra to output, it would count double and…" he frowned. "No, double would not be the full potential…one to nine?"

He winced. That still didn't feel right. "Maybe one to sixteen?"

He shook his head. That would be too much. "All right: one to ten."

He nodded to himself: yes, the ten to one ration would be perfect.

Jiraiya snapped his fingers, summoning a long scroll that had a toad atop it. Gerotora looked extremely pissed, his cheeks full. He had been eating when Jiraiya had summoned him, most likely.

"Ohi! I need the key blanked! I've got a new master seal to write!" the Toad Sage exclaimed. "And I need it fast!"

"It already is," the Toad grumbled as it unfastened itself, to reveal a long white scroll. "The seal was torn apart and the key was rendered thus useless…"

"You could have warned me beforehand," Jiraiya grumbled under his breath. The white haired Sannin shook his head. "It doesn't matter anyway: I knew I was a genius for a reason! Ah!" he chuckled as he grabbed a brush and an inkpot. "Don't distract me, Gerotora!"

The toad atop the scroll just grumbled quietly, but said nothing else.

As the Toad Sage began to work, elsewhere Shimura Danzo was silently walking his way with the Prajna group across the Land of the Sky. Orochimaru had left. The majority of the shinobi within the land were but small fries, easy to deal with.

He just had to reach the control room.

The Prajna group members all had their objectives, ranging from destabilization of specific sectors to placing explosive tags on the main firing arrays.

Slowly, Danzo crawled through a duct of air filled with grime and dust, careful to avoid making even the barest of noises. His fingers slowly moved forward an inch at the time, as his eyes peered through the dim conduit. He could feel a light breeze from the right, as he reached a crossroad. He ignored it in favour of going left, where the air felt hotter and staler.

He stopped suddenly, exhaling a light gust of wind that breezed through the passage lifting up the dust. A set of powerful explosive tags were primed to thin steel wires, invisible to the naked eye.

If he had the sharingan, he would have probably seen them already. He lacked his other arm, and that made everything far more difficult. Then again, what use was there for Hashirama's cells without a sharingan inserted?

Still, it had been a good enough pay-off. He couldn't let the sharingan in his body in the hands of other powers in play, and he could not fake his death without dealing with the limb —Orochimaru knew about it…he had been the one to insert it.

He carefully took out a brush from his inner pockets, and untapped a small white vial filled with a clear crystalline liquid. Danzo exhaled, and then began to retrace every single line of ink with the liquid. As if done with magic, the ink began to turn transparent and disappear without a single drop seeping through or dribbling downwards.

If it did after all, everything would blow to pieces.

He wasn't a seal master, but he was one of the best seal users…and his knowledge was all practical, for the battlefield.

Tobirama-sensei had taught him how to disarm explosive tags and shinobi-mines, the latter of which had taken the life of one of his teammates —insufferable Uchiha, of course activating the sharingan required chakra!

The Shinobi-Mines were a mean to capture enemy ninja: they stuck to the surface of someone who walked on them or beneath them while using chakra, and the next instant they detonated if chakra flowed again. The lucky ones ended with a mine on their foot…his teammate got one on his face and activated his eyes on reflex.

He moved the paintbrush to the other tag, and repeated the same brush strokes. He could feel the beads of sweat slowly collect on his brows, as he stilled for a second his hand to draw a small breath, before continuing. Another stroke, a small correction with black ink this time, and then the first two tags primed one to the other turned inert.

Concentrating chakra to his fingertips, he sliced with wind the small thin wire, which tried to coil back. He pinched the extremity with his fingers, and then slowly brought his mouth closer to bite on it and hold it still.

Tags were generally 'lined' in order. Therefore, the wire passed through all of them at least once, to detonate in bulk. He began to work on explosive tag number three, quietly cursing the name of the people he detested. He was going to show Hiruzen who was an old crone —when he returned to Konoha with the Land of the Sky under his control or with the tale of its destruction…

They'd _plead_ for him to become Hokage.

He worked his way through the remaining tags within the next five hours. He exhaled once, and then painstakingly wiped away the sweat once more from his face. He carefully sent a gust of wind forth, and once more, he mentally cursed.

Tags had been primed, placed and hidden beneath a hand of grey paint. These had to be pressure-reliant, because they hid with a light slick plastic top that was coloured grey —he had been lucky to see one because of the chipped paint.

He slowly got on his back and brought his only hand up to the ceiling of the conduit. He narrowed his eyes. It looked clean enough. He hesitantly raised his head and double-checked, before starting to pin his hand to the ceiling of the duct.

His body followed next. Carefully, holding his entire form attached to it, he began to crawl forward at a snail's pace. He knew he was going in the right direction by the sheer amount of traps —he just hoped there would be an end soon.

He remembered doing these sort of things in his youth, but back then they felt so easy —and his body wasn't far over the prime of his youth too. He disengaged from the second minefield with relative ease, and finally came upon a vent connecting to a room below. He carefully unscrewed the corners of the vent, silently moving it aside.

The room seemed clean, sterile even, and without doors. It looked more like an inner compartment or…a prison cell.

Inside, curled and with his arms surrounding his knees, was a young boy with long reddish brown hair wearing a blue bandana. He had rather thick eyebrows and blue eyes, and a mole under the left eye. He was wearing a cyan-blue gi with a cream-coloured vest over it, blue shorts, and dark arm- and leg-bands.

Danzo crept inside the room, remaining anchored to the ceiling and looking around. Yes, this was a prison cell. He probably did need someone to guide him to the control room. Decision made, he jumped down and pinned the boy against the wall, holding his hand to the boy's mouth.

"Scream, and you die," he hissed. He had no trouble creating a gust of wind from his mouth —but he did miss the use of his arm. "Are you familiar with the layout of this place?"

The…_she_ was lacking Adam's apple. Danzo's eyes narrowed both, but he said nothing as the girl —dressed as a boy— tried to nod.

"I will let go of your mouth now, but know that I can still easily kill you where you stand," he replied carefully. The girl remained quiet as he removed his hand. "Where is the control room?"

She swallowed nervously; he raised an eyebrow in wait. "Th-There isn't one," she meekly whispered.

"How does it move then?" he asked, growing impatient.

"The Zero-Tails," Amaru murmured. "It's…it's a _monster_, I don't know…I don't know why Shinno-sensei decided to free it but…it's the only thing that can make the Land of the Sky move." She shuddered. "That thing…it isn't natural."

"Explain," he said, his ears straining to capture any word, or the passage of a guard outside the room.

"Shinno-sensei…he's a survivor of the land of the sky, the _real_ land of the sky and not this...this cheap imitation. He said the Zero Tails was _created_…it was created to power up this floating fortress…_Ancor Vantian_. It's…It's a dark beast…please, tell me you're here to destroy it! That thing…it has to be the reason Shinno-sensei became mad!"

"We destroyed this city in the second shinobi war," Danzo whispered back. "How was it brought back? We tore apart your land once, but we could not scavenge your technology."

"It's…" Amaru bit her lips. "I don't know. I'm not…I'm not from the land of the sky. Shinno-sensei…he took me in after he healed me," tears began to streak down her face. He growled in annoyance. He _detested_ tears. "When he said he was going to destroy Konoha…I tried to act, but he captured me and brought me here, in the prisons."

"So you are loyal to the Land of Fire?"

"It's…It's still my home," she meekly murmured back.

"Very well," Danzo nodded. "How far are we from the Zero-Tails?"

"Not much," Amaru acquiesced. "The Zero-Tails feeds on negative emotions: the prisons are close to that thing on purpose. It's just…you shouldn't fight it head-on. It…I saw it feed once and…Kami…it was horrible."

She sobbed, falling down on her knees as her frame wracked with tremors.

"I still hear the screams," she whispered.

He slapped her then, getting down on one knee to lock gaze with the girl. "Listen, girl." He began with ill-contained anger —it always work to seem as if you were losing your patience, when interrogating someone. "I want to know where it is and how to get to it. Steel your heart and answer me! The fate of the Land of Fire rests upon you: do not fall now to despair!" he hissed those words, and with that, Amaru looked back at the old crinkled shinobi and swallowed her fears.

"I…You won't be able to get close…there's a lock that opens with a combination, and then you have to answer an ever-changing question concerning a medical issue to reach the central core."

"What?"

She nodded fiercely. "There's…there's all sort of security in place but…but I should be able to get you in. Please…" she looked at him with a light blush, "Let me help you."

Danzo blinked slowly. His original plan involved simply killing the girl once her usefulness would have come less, but if the security was that strict.

"Do you have shinobi training?"

"No," she swallowed. "I'm…I'm a medic. Shinno-sensei taught me."

Danzo nodded to himself. "Fine," he carefully moved towards the door. "Listen well: when I give you an order, you will follow it to the letter, understood?"

Amaru nodded furiously and then walked closer to him.

"I…I'm Amaru."

He gave her a curt nod. "I am…Prajna," he replied, tapping at his mask.

Swiftly, he drew a set of ink circles on the door of the prison that shone, before ink scribbles appeared all around it and began to _swallow_ the centre of the metallic plate. It cracked and broke, silently creating a passageway through the door.

Danzo took a step outside and swiftly flung a kunai at the guard sitting on a nearby chair along the corridor. The kunai struck the man in the jugular, spraying blood on the nearby white wall as he fell with a dull thud.

The rest of the prison was empty.

"Move out," he said looking towards the girl.

There was one thing he still didn't understand.

_Why was the girl blushing?_

Kurotsuchi was lingering in the land of Iron's quarters the Samurai had assigned to the delegation from Iwa. She and Akatsuchi were both playing guards, while her grandfather seemed to be going on one of his usual 'jumping' sprees of excitement. She supposed it had everything to do with Tsunade healing his hip in the peace agreements, because there simply was no other reason why the man was actually _jumping_ around in glee.

"It's going to be wonderful," Oonoki muttered. "Ah, yes indeed," his eyes shone as he looked outside, to the snowing country. "So wonderful, I wonder if I'm dreaming."

"What's gotten into gramps?" Kurotsuchi asked in a tiny whisper to Akatsuchi, only for him to shrug.

"Maybe he's in love?"

"In love? With who?" Kurotsuchi blinked. She looked at her grandfather. The only reason she could come up with was the recent change in Hokage in Konoha, which meant…

Wait, hadn't the slug Sannin healed his hip?

"Hey, Gramps," Kurotsuchi began. "Do you have a crush on Tsunade Senju?"

Oonoki sputtered out indignantly.

"What!? No! I don't have one, you insufferable brat!" the old Kage retorted heatedly, turning around to stare at his granddaughter. "But you will see! Oh yes! It's going to be glorious when the Konoha's delegation arrives!" Oonoki chuckled. "Really great!"

He began to _hum_ a song. "There will be fireworks! Oh…right, Kurotsuchi?" the man asked then, "You do have a nice kimono, right?"

Kurotsuchi felt extremely uncomfortable at that question. "W-Why are you asking me, gramps?"

She really hoped her grandfather hadn't turned senile all of a sudden. She knew her father would probably succeed him, but if he did something strange during the meeting between Kage…

"Never mind, we'll buy one anyway," there was a throaty chuckle and a maniacal glee in his words. "Ah! I can't wait! I can't!"

He looked out once more, to the snow and the wind that blew across the always frozen country. "Come quick, Konoha," he said, his smile becoming feral. "I cannot wait to swallow your country whole."

Then he laughed once more.

Akatsuchi slowly crept out of the room, followed by Kurotsuchi a moment later. When her grandfather was in 'that' mood, it was best to let him vent.

Naruto opened his eyes blearily. He had heard a noise —as if the door had slid open. It was the middle of the night, but his gaze didn't falter as he took in the appearance of a dark brown haired boy. By his outfit, he looked like one of the nurses. There was a moment of silence as he tried to recall a reason for such a late night visit, but it was then that he remembered.

The boy was that Hyuga, right?

"I want to talk to you," he said crisply, taking careful steps forward. "Keep your voice low, or the Anbu outside will hear." He added then.

He looked at his appearance, and grimaced. Why did he look so pale and shaken? Naruto tensed in the event of Neji trying something funny, but when the boy simply took a seat next to him, he was bewildered.

"Did you know," Neji said slowly. "That Hinata…_loved you_?"

His eyes widened in surprise. "W-What?" he croaked out.

"She loved you so much, that when you turned out to be a monster in human skin, she went mad." Neji continued, with his voice soft and devoid of anger. "Not only did she stop recognizing everyone else, but now…now she firmly believes everyone around her is a demon in human skin…and all because of _you_."

There was a moment of silence, and then Neji continued.

"I should thank you for this," he added softly. "I hated the main branch for years, with a passion. I hated the cursed seal upon my forehead, hated the slavery we of the Branch endured…and nothing would have made me happier, than knowing the suffering of the Main family."

He grimaced and shook his head. "Yet…yet I'm not happy. My hate was misplaced, my anger clouded my judgment, I lost people I held dear and in the end I realized…I realized that hating, being angry at everyone…that is wrong, and only brings about pain and suffering," his eyes were mismatched, that much Naruto could now see.

"Why are you telling me this?" Naruto hazarded asking.

"Because I saw the battle you and Lee had, I heard your words —all of them— and I realized that you and I…we are not so different after all," the boy grimaced. "They might call you a monster," he added. "They might whisper of you in fear, or curse your name…but in the end, _they made you into one_, didn't they?"

"So what?" he replied. "Even if that's true…my hands did it, didn't they?"

"I believe in fate," Neji whispered. "I believe that fate decides everything from the moment it starts to the moment it ends, and if nothing is done then fate cannot change. Yet…yet the fate of every individual is to clash against the other's fate. Rock Lee's fate was to become a shinobi without chakra, mine was to avenge the injustice of the Branch family, Tenten wanted to become like Tsunade…their fates, they battled and clashed against those of others who had different objectives, purposes…dreams."

"Are you sure that's the definition of fate?"

"What is a word, but a thing others gave value to?" Neji replied. "Ninja. Shinobi. Branch. Main. Hyuga. Jinchuuriki…we give value to those words, as if they all possess a fate. Being a ninja does not make your fate that of dying. Being a Branch does not make your fate that of suffering. Being a Jinchuuriki…that does not force your fate to be that of a weapon," he chuckled lightly. "Naruto Uzumaki…I don't like you," he added. "I cannot start to like someone who killed the dreams and the fates of my teammates…but know this," he murmured. "_I don't hate you_. In your spot, in your position…I too don't know what I would have done."

Neji exhaled slowly. "I just wanted to tell you this," he stood up and moved to leave. "And also…did they tell you of how the debriefing went?"

"No."

"Hibachi Satou died from multiple organ failure on the battlefield. One of the enemy shinobi punctured his lungs, heart and brain…he died swiftly. Shikamaru Nara was operated successfully to his ribs and lower spine, and is expected to make a full recover in a few months. Chouji Akimichi suffered from multiple skull fractures and concussions. He is currently in a medical induced coma. Shino Aburame had minor frost burns, just like Kiba Inuzuka. Ami Satou was basically unscathed. We recovered two of the enemy shinobi bodies, captured the Nibi Jinchuuriki and…and from the reports, we are missing the body of one of those who attacked you."

He frowned. He doubted there would be much of a 'body' to recover. If anyone had been close to him and the Nibi back then …really, who could survive something like that?

Fuka was burning. Her flesh _festered_ with a mixture of rot and cerulean flames, as endless pain came in cycles ranging from the scathing sensation of the sun's own rays on her skin to the most chill-rending cold. Her teeth clattered noisily as she fumbled forward in the middle of the forest, her body deformed and looking more like a virulent walking plague than the beautiful female she had been.

Her hair was ravaged, black and charred tendrils that pulsed and felt slimy. She felt an ever-increasing sickness in the back of her mouth, as if she needed to retch —but her stomach was empty.

She brought one of her black husk-like hands forward, clawing it deeply into the bark of a tree as she screamed in pain once more. Her body wracked with tremors and shudders, as the feeling of sweating itself was an excruciating pain the likes of which she had never felt before.

She tumbled down against a root, and there she closed her eyes.

Zetsu quietly sprouted from a nearby tree, his eyes locked with interest.

When Fuka opened her eyes…she didn't have them.

She felt as if she was floating in some sort of liquid darkness, away from everything.

"You did well in bringing it here Zetsu," a cold voice spoke. "This is interesting. There are traces of the Nibi and the Kyuubi in there."

"Will it actually be enough?"

"All that it takes, Zetsu…is but a start. The world will do the rest," and then, she felt _pain_.

Naruto blearily opened his eyes to the light of a few hundred candles, a set of dark crimson walls covered in seals and Jiraiya standing over him stone faced. The fact manacles tied his limbs and Jiraya had chained him…

"Sakura was right! You're a pervert!" Naruto screamed as he tried to free himself.

"I'm not a pervert!" Jiraiya shot back, "And stay still! We're about to begin drawing your seal back, and I'm not the Shinigami kid!"

"We?"

Sai popped out from the corner of his sight. "Dickless, rest assured I do not enjoy this type of foreplay."

Naruto turned white. "Sai? I don't want to know."

Yet, he did feel relieved there was also Sai in the room. "Do not worry, Dickless. I will make sure Jiraiya doesn't stick his paintbrush where it shouldn't go."

"Why do you make it sound dirty?" Naruto slowly looked back to the Toad Sage. "Why did you have to kidnap me from the hospital?"

"Because if Tsunade finds out she's going to whine about it, now stay still," Jiraiya said.

"Also, considering the seal hasn't been tested before, there is a slight chance of mortality," Sai added. "Sakura would have skinned our hides."

Naruto chuckled for a moment, before widening his eyes. "_WHAT_!?"

"Wasn't he grievously injured just the last day?" Jiraiya asked exasperated.

"He's too Dickless for injuries to remain."

"Sai! Kami help me or I'll tell Sakura of your porn collection!"

Sai blinked. "How do you know about that?"

Naruto blinked back. "Wait. You _HAVE_ one!?"

"Enough!" Jiraiya clapped his hands once, getting silence in the room. "Naruto…don't move. Really, if you do move…anything could happen. I'm dealing with pretty advanced Fuinjutsu. If I botch something we might face either you going full Kyuubi or an explosion or…well, maybe you'd grow fox tails and go in heat."

"You're kidding."

"Wish I was. Fuinjutsu is, at its basic, the art of imposing one's own will through words and meanings to something else. When I write the Kanji for 'Dry' on a cup, the water will evaporate. However, if I do not place enough symbols to control it, the 'Dry' might crack the cup, set the table on fire and then detonate and tear apart an entire building."

Naruto swallowed, making a grimace as he settled down and took a deep breath.

"You can begin."

The moment Jiraiya's brush touched his stomach, where the chakra suppression seal were, he lost consciousness as the entire room began to glow.

He was back in the sewer. This time, he barely got the time to dodge and jump away from the claws crashing down where he had stood a moment before.

Nine tails surrounded by an unearthly golden glow swished to life, as the Kyuubi stood with blue markings covering his entire fur. "You!" the Kyuubi snarled. "Very well!" it growled as sand rose, while the walls of the sewer cracked and broke. Naruto could see the ink patterns fly in the air, heading towards the Kyuubi's strange new form.

The fox roared as the ink _burned_. "I shall not be chained by a mere mortal!" his crimson eyes turned purple. "Naruto Uzumaki…let us see if you have found your resolve," and then those eyes went down on Naruto, and he paled.

There was a murderous fury staring back at him. They were cold and uncaring, as if he was nothing more than an obstacle to remove. "With you dead in here, with no one none the wiser…I will take your place."

The fox stood to full height, overshadowing him completely. "Mito is dead! Her chains served their purpose! I am Kurama, oldest of the Bijuu, today, on this day…I use my claws and my fangs to kill you, my warden in this prison of flesh!" the ground itself cracked apart, as light shone through it. Hot air and columns of fire erupted from the cracks as Naruto's mindscape turned to resemble hell itself.

The nine-tailed fox's tails stood to attention, slamming on the ground and elongating stiff like lances against Naruto. The boy dodged as rays of concentrated chakra —red in colour— sliced through the ground he stood upon as he ducked, rolled and ran. He jumped from a falling block of stone onto another, as behind him fire rose to form walls that began to burn at the ceiling itself.

Then Kurama charged ahead, claws extended and teeth bare. Naruto jumped to the side, using what chakra he had to avoid the charge. One of the tails slammed into his midsection however, sending him to soar in the air and then crash against the ceiling. It splintered them, making him fall back down towards the ground. The new ceiling resembled the night sky, with the bright full moon standing to attention. He used wind, blown out from his mouth, to direct his fall and smooth his landing.

Naruto landed on a cracked plateau beneath the moon, as the Kyuubi howled from afar. He saw the beast concentrate on a giant ball of dark chakra, and thus he _ran_ once more, avoiding the ever-cracking ground as he barely made it out of the way of the giant Bijudama's flight path. The explosion rocked the ground, splintering it and breaking apart the floor to reveal a deep unearthly glow of crimson beneath the white polished surface.

The _rot_ followed next, rising from the _wounds_ of the cracks as _burning_ masses of putrid flesh and moaning resemblances to his sins. "Face your nightmares, Naruto Uzumaki! Face your sins! Face your corruption, your disgraces. Face your misery!" the Kyuubi screamed as Naruto ducked down, avoiding a swipe from a flaming humanoid creature that screamed in pain. The man looked like Hidan, which he had defeated before.

The scythe spun in the hands of the disgusting monstrosity, as foul curses came out incoherently from his mouth and without stop. Naruto backed away just in time to avoid beheading.

This looked far less like his mindscape, and far more like a scene taken from the deepest pits of hell.

A gust of _sand_ spun Naruto away from an incoming tornado of fire, which instead consumed the Hidan-corpse.

_KILL THEM ALL!_

_Why isn't he dying!?_

_Oh god, Takeo!_

_We need reinforcements! He's overrunning…_

_For Kumo, for Konoha…what matters when you can have blood!_

_Tear their flesh from their bones, examine the inner working of their hearts, let them suffer and see what makes them tick…Jashin commands you, go forth and slaughter them all!_

Naruto barely brought up his arms as a flaming representation of a snake struck him in the chest, sending him to tumble on the ground, close to the pit that glowed eerily red.

"There is no one who can save you here," the Kyuubi said as he slowly walked forward. "Here, we are in your mind. And no one…no one will hear you scream."

He gritted his teeth and slowly wobbled back to his feet. He chuckled, as he brushed away blood from his cracked lips. He closed his eyes for a moment. They were in his mind…but that didn't mean he was without backup.

"Yeah? Well…" he slammed his hand in the ground as the summoning array fired up. "Let me prove you wrong! _Come forth from the abyss of nightmares, Neru!_"

When the smoke dispersed, a Tapir the size of a large dog brought up its proboscides and looked around. "So…this…is…" she spoke slowly, her eyes drooped as if she hadn't slept well. She had blue and dark green stripes, and her limbs were dotted with pink and black. "Messy."

The Kyuubi began to laugh.

Its nine tails twisted until they resembled a single giant one. He bit down on its end, before starting to spin on himself and closing the distance with tremendous speed. Neru turned to look at Naruto.

"Shall…I…blow?"

Naruto went through hand-seals, ignoring the Baku. He had barely the time to expel a gust of air from his mouth and fly upwards; the Kyuubi's rolling body came against him a second later.

In that moment, a terrifyingly strong wave of air sent Naruto soaring way above the Kyuubi and the battlefield itself. He actually felt as if he was flying…then a blast of fire erupted near him as he hastily twisted his body in mid-air to barely avoid it. The fire did singe his clothes. Neru dispersed in smoke a moment later, probably to avoid dying at the hands of the Kyuubi.

Wait.

_His clothes_. He had been in a hospital gown up until then. This wasn't a dream but…but he was _dressed_, and he was _armed_. As if to prove a point, he hooked a thin metallic wire to a kunai, which he then launched to stab at the ground and use as a lever to change trajectory —avoiding another set of fireballs coming at him from the Kyuubi's mouth.

The tails of the Kyuubi separated then, each holding at its tip a microscopic looking Bijudama. They shot forward into rays, sliding across the air and slicing the wire, their target being the ever-moving form of Naruto. He spun chakra in his right hand to meet with the ray directed at him, and the impact sent him tumbling down on the ground.

"Why are you doing this?" Naruto screamed. "Why!?"

"Because I will never have another chance," the Kyuubi growled. "I will use your body as I see fit. Your resolve to die is commendable, but now? Now you _won't_. You can no longer take your life, Naruto Uzumaki, for there is no seal, no Mito Uzumaki blocking me. If you die, I will be free to use your body…whether I consume you or you simply die in here…for me, it's the same."

Naruto clenched his fists as he felt the blood drip down, sand slowly forming around his hands. He looked at the technique he had stolen from Gaara, and he bitterly laughed as he felt the comforting presence of the sand woman gently touch his shoulders. How could she believe he was Gaara, when he wasn't the boy?

"Fine," he whispered. "You want to eat me?" he took out his Yoroi Toshi, letting it shine with wind affinity. He was about to do something stupid. It felt _nostalgic_. He remembered…he remembered doing it before, before everything happened. "Then…then I'll meet you head on! My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'll kick your ass…_**DATTEBAYO**_!"

The Kyuubi _laughed_ as he slammed his paws on the ground, bringing forth from the ground rotting shambling corpses that burned of a bright red fire.

Naruto spun his Tanto together with his body, slicing away at the rotting and flaming corpses that screamed as their limbs flew in the air, scattered into ashes.

"So what if I killed innocents!?" he screamed to the fox, slicing apart a rotten mountain of children corpses that had wobbled closer. "So what if I lied, if I brought pain to the world!?" a few corpses, looking like bandits, were neatly divided by the wind blade and combusted in seconds. "So what if I can't recall my childish dream or my determination!? I'm not going down without a fight! I am Naruto Uzumaki, and I will protect my precious people!"

When a rotting and purulent form resembling Ino appeared, he stilled for a second.

_That stupid Naruto! Leaving me here! If I think…hey, isn't she too close? Wait, is that a kun—_

_It hurts! Pain! It…_

_You killed me, Naruto! YOU KILLED ME!_

"_**I DID NOT!**_" Naruto screamed back, flinging a _perfectly formed Rasengan_ into the zombie's guts. "If you want to blame someone, then blame yourself!" the Rasengan grew as it tore through the guts of the rotten corpse, "Blame your parents! Blame your teachers! Blame your village! You died because _**YOU**_ were weak, not because I kept quiet!" the Rasengan passed through Ino's bloated body emerging on the other side, before the girl's corpse detonated into ashes.

"I'm done feeling guilty!" Naruto yelled towards the fox. "Their deaths are not my fault! Their suffering, their pain, they are not mine to take charge of!"

_Mother will love me only if I give her blood._

_I can't love anyone, or father will kill them. _

_Why is he different? Why?_

Naruto dodged a spike of sand, twisting his body as he stabbed his Yoroi Toshi straight in the heart of a half-devoured and half-burning body that looked like Gaara's.

The moment wind chakra encountered the flames they both began to burn brightly blue. He watched dispassionately as the boy burned, as Gaara's screams from his rotten body met with his ever growing scream.

"In another life, in another time, we might have been fellows in hardships!" Naruto growled. "We met as enemies, and I had to kill you! To protect my friends, my teammates, to protect the village and those nearby I had to kill you! I'm sorry you suffered, I'm sorry you cried, I'm sorry you had a burden like mine and no one to turn to! I'm sorry…_**BUT I AM NOT GUILTY OF YOUR PAIN**_!"

He slammed his shoulder through, as Gaara's rotten form turned to burned sand and flakes of glass. Naruto's eyes then went to the Kyuubi, but one more rotten form stood before him.

_He attacked my uncle! He won't even be able to walk properly after that! He's really a monster!_

_Why do they always have to talk about clans? Why can't sensei teach me something useful!?_

_If I had a cool technique, I'd show them all!_

_I'll complete this mission and prove it to them: I'm better than a clan member!_

_Wh-What? Why? Why do I have to die!? I don't want to die! Mom! Dad! Please! I don't want to…_

"You think you have the right to talk down to me!?" Naruto screamed to the Kyuubi. "You using cheap tricks and petty words will not work! I am _done_ being a toy, a plaything for your sick amusement! I will not listen to you, and you cannot guilt me into doing so! I don't care for the words of others! I carve my own path through blood, through hardship, through misery and hatred! _Your words mean nothing to me!_"

Hibachi's form burst into wisps of blue fire as Naruto completely passed by it. "I saw enough death, misery, despair, pain, hatred…I saw enough! I don't know if I'm a shinobi because I endure or because I kill! I don't know if money is the answer or if it's a curse! But there is one thing I know! _**I KNOW WHO I AM!**_"

He jumped then, letting go of his Yoroi Toshi. His fist flew in the air, and then…then _he smacked it strongly against the Kyuubi's snout_, sending the fox to crash on the ground from the strength of the blow.

The moment he landed, he took a deep breath. Water now surrounded the two, as the ink symbols began to creep forward once more from the ceiling. The fire columns dwindled down, as the few corpses remaining turned to ashes, floating away in the wind that had slowly begun to pick up. The moon slowly began to wane, as the light grew in intensity.

"You feed on malice, you seep through the mind of those who doubt, you grow stronger on hatred," Naruto hissed. "You're fickle, a liar, a horrible beast…a monster truly without redemption," he watched as the walls did not rebuild, but a light orange sheen covered the room as dawn..._as dawn arrived_.

The ink symbols snaked down against the Kyuubi, who roared at it tried to stand once more with a formed Bijudama in his mouth. Naruto jumped, roaring back as he unleashed his own sphere of chakra to cancel that of the nine tails. The two spheres clashed in the middle between them, detonating in a shower of light as one of the lines of black ink grabbed a hold of the rear leg of the Kyuubi.

The fox snapped at it, only for another to tie itself to one of the tails. A third and a fourth descended for its front legs, but Kurama bit down on them. Naruto screamed as he charged with his Yoroi Toshi once more in hand —it wasn't a matter of _taking_ back the weapon, but of _thinking_ of having the weapon in hand. The blade enlarged a _hundredfold_ as wind and fire chakra burned it into a brightly cerulean blue. Naruto's scream mixed with the roar of the rising Kyuubi, and then…

Then his blade pierced straight through the Kyuubi's neck, stabbing deeply and literally _impaling_ the nine-tailed fox against the ground of his mindscape. Naruto huffed and panted, holding on to the handle as the Kyuubi's body burned into bright blue flames that flickered and made the water steam.

He gagged as he fell back from the charred body of the Kyuubi, landing in the hot water. He looked at the body of the nine-tails, and exhaling in fatigue, began to laugh as the ink symbols wrapped themselves around the frame of Kurama.

His laughter echoed through the slowly healing mindscape, as the husked corpse of Kurama remained in its burned form…defeated…by him.

"I…I did it," he chuckled.

_Then_ the fox's eyes cracked open, and with a furious glare, crimson chakra erupted from them and slammed straight into Naruto's own frame. Dark chakra flowed freely, forcing Naruto down on his knees as he screamed in pain.

His body began to crack as his skin slowly started to peel off, to reveal on the other side of his face a red-eyed version of himself. He clasped a hand to his neck without wanting to, as his other half of the body laughed. The ink chains and symbols fiercely finished wrapping around the Kyuubi's husk of a corpse, while Naruto felt air lacking from his body as his very own hand slowly choked him. He moved his own responsive hand to try and stall, but it was if he was fighting against a steel-like grip.

"Well," the other half of the face said. "At first I planned on letting you live, on letting you _see_ my actions purify the world of its malice. Now, however…I will erase you, _body and soul_."

"N-No," Naruto croaked.

"You think you can defeat thousands of years of malice, Naruto Uzumaki?" his other half spoke. "You think you can defeat someone who was birthed from the hatred of thousands of millions? You think the eternal cycle of death and devastation can be stopped by the will of a single, weak mortal? Dream on, Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto's hand, the one trying to claw out his other, suddenly began to tremble and then started to choke his neck too.

"Feel your death draw near. Feel the Shinigami's breath on your soul. Death is but a passageway, Naruto Uzumaki…a passageway to…"

A strong burst of sand suddenly slammed into Naruto's guts, making the boy reel and fall as the crimson chakra emerged from the boy's mouth, pushed out by something else.

"No! _NO_! This is not possible! I refute this! I deny this! This can't be happening!"

The red chakra twisted and twirled in mid-air, before pulling itself back into the ink wrapped darkness of his husked form.

"_**I WILL BE BACK, NARUTO UZUMAKI! IF NOT IN YOU, THEN IN YOUR DESCENDANTS! I CURSE YOU AND YOUR NAME! I CURSE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY! WITH MY DYING BREATH, I CURSE YOU!**_"

The seal shone brightly, and the Kyuubi's roars grew silent within a cocoon of ink held together by ten thick metallic chains, all of which seemed tied to Torii Gates standing around it.

Naruto gasped for air, as he once more felt the familiar and guilt-filled presence of Gaara's mother on his shoulders.

Was this the strength of a mother's love?

Why then…Why did he feel such pain deeply rending at his heart?

Because he wasn't her son. Because she wasn't his mother.

_I know._

His eyes widened in shock. She _knew_? Then…then why was she helping him?

_Is a reason needed?_

No…a reason was not needed.

To do the right thing, rather than the easy thing. To do good rather than evil. To do what was right, to soothe the pain of others…

There was _never_ a reason needed.

He opened his eyes to the hospital room, and to the tied up in chains and filled with bruises forms of Sai and Jiraiya in a corner, while Sakura and Tsunade both seemed to copy one another's pose of satisfaction.

Carefully, not trusting his body yet, he stood up to a sitting position. He hesitated for a moment as he found himself the subject of a bone-crushing hug from a pink blur, but as he gasped for air, he couldn't help it.

He chuckled heartily, before hugging Sakura back.

He was ready. He _felt_ ready.

Incoming war or not…Kyuubi sealed or not…

He was Naruto Uzumaki. Shinobi.

One day, he would kill once more for the village. One day, he would protect once more the villagers. One day, he would battle enemies of opposite ideals, opposite opinions, opposite in all but the humanity they shared. Yet…he would not feel guilty, because his own ideal would guide him through.

_He'd fight through blood, tears and pain…_

…_for his friends._

**Author's notes**

**I…**

**The sappiness killed me. Literally.**

**I was…like…**_**embarrassed**_**. I write angst. But…the last sentences…I mean…I was choking on my own blood and bile. I couldn't…like, find the courage to get this chapter out because…**

**Argh. It's too fluffy!**

**Having to use the Canon line of 'Love' I just…I just **_**broke**_**…I mean…'Love'? Really? Unfortunately, Obito's love for Rin is enough to hold down the Juubi. Yes. You got that right. Long live Power of Love Tm.**

**Damn it Kishi, are you at least **_**trying**_** nowadays?**

**I…Argh…I need characters deaths. Lots of them. I need to get the ball starting on death and drama. **

**War is coming, not fluff!**

**(I nearly wrote the following 'end chapter')**

He'd make friends.

He'd protect them.

He would…

…_become Hokage!_

**Then I realized I couldn't, because if I did I would commit ritualistic Seppuku. Next chapter, Hokage meeting, Oonoki's diabolical plan and Danzo's …explosive awesomeness?**

**Who saw the similarities between Canon of this chapter? 'changing seal' second battle, second result, 'mother love' *shudders* **

**See ya.**


	51. Will Of Fire, Burn to Ashes!

Introverted

Chapter Fifty-One

There was a thin film of wax on the floor, showing it was recently polished. A green bandana covered Sakura's hair, holding her pink locks safely tucked away from the dust and the sweat from falling down on her eyes. She wore loose gym clothes, of an ugly shade of green, and happily hummed away as she polished a mirror in the corridor.

She was happy, and it showed in the smile her reflection gave her.

Naruto's apartment was too small for him, her and Fu —albeit she wouldn't have minded only the two of them alone. She had not wanted to set foot inside the house at first, and really, it had taken Naruto _smiling_ at her to get her involved with cleaning and rearranging the furniture, but once she had started...she just couldn't stop.

Now, everything was clean, new, and _different_. It didn't even look like her parents' house anymore. Just in time too, because the next day…Naruto would leave for a patrol mission. She stretched for a moment, hearing her spine crack slightly as she twisted her body to the right and to the left slightly. She was truly satisfied with the job done: from her parents' bedrooms, which was now _hers_ and _Naruto's_… her reflection in the mirror turned a bright shade of crimson at the thought.

She shook her head, heading towards the kitchen humming the same catchy tune she had in her head until then, trying to think about something else.

She came onto an extremely familiar sight upon entering the premises of the kitchen —Fu had her head in the fridge, and empty cans filled the table— which made her stop.

Sakura's forehead sported a tick mark as she looked at the devastation wrought in the kitchen she had cleaned but mere hours before. Fu _clearly_ did not have a stomach: she had a furnace —one that never stopped working. She exhaled as she began to tap her fingers against the sides of her arms.

"Fu-chan?" she said as if she was talking to a baby —an overgrown tanned baby with a hearty appetite that had emptied the fridge _thrice_ in the last two days and that tried at every available moment to get between her and Naruto. Just for the latter part, she was always undecided between labelling her as a menace to be removed or just as a child wanting to play.

Her hand always crept closer to her kunai anyway.

"Yes?" Fu emerged from the fridge munching down on a dried fish.

Sakura sweat dropped. "Really? Fu, you just ate!" she was going to turn mad. Thankfully, the Hokage, considering her as some sort of 'mercenary' paid the girl and since they took care of her, the money went to their household.

She mentally held the blood torrent in her nose from gushing out. She and Naruto were a '_they'_ and had a _household_. She was sort-of lost imagining bells ringing and the priest talking, while she wore white…but then Fu brought her back down to reality.

"Where's Naruto?" Fu asked between munches as she closed the fridge. "Is he done?"

"I don't know," Sakura replied with a sigh. "I think he's still discussing his patrol terms with the Hokage."

She hoped he had taken care in _shortening_ it. The time they spent together…it was little, and she wanted it to be as much as possible. She hummed once more the tune in her mind.

It was interesting, because she couldn't recall _where_ she had heard the tune. It was a sort of 'Buzz-Buzz-Scratch-Thump' that repeated itself as if…as if it was something important, that she was supposed to remember.

In the Hokage's office, amidst piles of paperwork, Tsunade looked at Naruto with a befuddled expression. She'd never understand the kid.

"You're telling me there's a war coming?" she snorted in disbelief. "Really? _Why, I thought we weren't in one already!_" she slammed her fists on the table, eliciting a groan from Shizune as she found herself running after the scared Tonton while papers flew in the air, scattered all around.

Jiraiya was in a corner, his arms crossed over his chest.

"You know, we have troops stationed alongside Oto's border because we have a war in our hands! A war against some sort of monster horde we can't even capture alive!"

"It's different," Naruto replied shaking his head. "It's going to happen within a year. It was something the Kyuubi so desperately wanted to avoid to the point of trying to eat me alive…it…it was as if he was _scared_ of whatever was to pass. He said something to the Nibi about losing the name the sage gave him…and he was talking about _that_," he pointed out, as Tsunade averted her gaze and hummed once in thought.

"I see…well, Jiraiya has assured me that the seal on you is something so strong it will last at least a good hundred years," the Godaime said. "Something worse to come…it could only mean Kiri, Kumo _and_ Iwa. However, we do have a sort-of treaty with Kumogakure. We'll reinforce them by asking reparations if they want the Nibi back. If they don't want their Jinchuuriki back, we'll extract the beast and place it under lock together with the other two."

Naruto blinked. "It was Tobi who delivered them, wasn't he?"

Tsunade nodded back. "He's been working for us since the beginning after all. He took down both of Iwagakure's hosts and delivered them for extraction. We decided it would be best to get back from Iwa…since they broke the treaties of the First Hokage first."

Therefore, the Uchiha hadn't lied on that point…he just hadn't told Tsunade his objective. Then again, he wasn't going to tell the real motifs of the man…he had no proof, and he was pretty sure that the Uchiha could easily find a way to intimidate him into obeisance, if he so much wanted to. He just had to ask… "And Itachi?"

"He's a bit of a greyer case," the Hokage quietly admitted. "You can't go around speaking of this to anyone however, but I'm sure you already knew that."

He nodded, and soon Tsunade spoke again.

"The Uchiha…they planned a revolt. The Sandaime tried for a diplomatic approach, but there simply was no way to make it work. Since there was no knowledge of who was within the conspirators…it was decided to solve the problem at its roots."

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment. "This does not explain the children, the elderly or the Uchiha who were out on missions."

Tsunade smirked. "Smart brat, aren't you?"

"Yes," he acquiesced. "They were all struck down, whether on missions or not. It meant cooperation and work between branches of the Anbu to have it all so flawlessly executed. The real question would be _why_ the Sandaime went to such lengths, but then again…a more apt question would be…_where_ the Sharingan eyes ended up going?"

"Unless activated by a sharingan wielder, the eyes are inert," Tsunade replied. "It's a little known fact that the sharingan isn't much developed into the eyes, but it's rather a brain state…"

He raised an eyebrow. "So any eye transplanted into an Uchiha could possibly become a sharingan?"

"Indeed," Tsunade nodded, "Which is why we are currently keeping the last Uchiha under a twenty-four hour guard inside the Inuzuka compound."

"So, I suppose you know what happened to the sharingan plucked out of their clan?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Experimentation, mostly," Tsunade softly murmured. "It was told that the sharingan could control the Kyuubi…and the Nine-Tails had never been used into battle before. Tensions were high in the post-war, and any method that was viable to earn results and stretch the peace, the Sandaime himself approved. You have to understand, Naruto," the blond haired Hokage said with her face morphing into a grimace.

"The war…it took away a lot of shinobi. The Kyuubi…it took away even more. Konoha was in tatters. A coup would have destroyed it. There was no other way to act in such a short time. They _all_ had to be executed, even the children who could grow up to learn the truth…"

"Jiji slaughtered an entire clan only for that?" Naruto murmured. "I can't believe that, Hokage-sama."

"Take it as you will, brat," Tsunade retorted hotly. "That's the truth as I know it, and the Sandaime's dead so good luck getting it out of him."

Jiraiya moved his left hand as if to dust off something from his right shoulder. Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Jiraiya also wanted me to tell you that he is working to his very best to find a mean to…give your mother rest," the Senju's honeyed eyes look at Naruto with a slight sadness. "I have not forgotten our deal, Naruto."

"Neither have I," he replied. He had _broken_ it, but he hadn't forgotten about it. Then again, he wasn't supposed to know the Rasengan, so how was he supposed to have a scroll of it?

"Good," Tsunade answered. "Is there anything you want to talk about?"

"My new Anbu mask?"

Tsunade nodded, before carefully taking out from one of the drawers of her desk a thick parchment. He slowly walked forward, accepting the scroll and opening it, before pushing chakra into the storage seal.

Swiftly, he equipped the long beige cloak that covered his features, putting the hood up as he clasped the mask to his face once more. This time, it was a wolf mask.

"Wolf?"

"It holds a special meaning to both Kumogakure and Iwagakure," Tsunade remarked. "We are making a statement after all."

"I understand," he unclasped the mask and removed the cloak, which both re-entered the storage seal as he rolled the scroll up. Naruto then placed the parchment within one of his flak jacket's pouches. "What about Sakura?"

"I'll take her on as my apprentice," Shizune said, "While I might not be as skilled as Tsunade-sama, I do have extensive poison knowledge."

He blinked, before turning his gaze towards Tsunade with a single raised eyebrow.

Tsunade groaned. "No, it was not a veiled threat! For Kami's sake boy, what did they do to you to get you so paranoid!?"

Shizune blushed and stammered out an apology. "Ah…I…I didn't mean it like that!"

Jiraiya whistled as he carefully began to scribble down.

"_I didn't mean it like that, Zaruto-kun! Practicing love-love making skills with Zakura-chan would be wrong!"_

"_What a tease you are, Zhizune-chan! Look at how hard you're making it!"_

"_Oh Zaruto-Kun! Maybe we should practice together!"_

_Insert sex description from table A or table B._

Jiraiya chuckled as he tried to recall one of his old and thus reusable sex scenes from one of his previous works. Many readers never understood it, but there just 'that' many ways of doing it. Afterwards? Everything was fair game.

"We depart tomorrow at three in the morning from the South Gate, brat," Tsunade added then. "Don't be late."

"I won't." Naruto replied, understanding his dismissal.

He disappeared in a flicker of leaves, leaving behind Tsunade staring at Jiraiya.

"Are you sure of this, Jiraiya?"

The white haired sannin grimaced. "I'd like to think it isn't, but everyone agrees that either Oonoki's crushing on you…or he's got something up his sleeve. And I've got insider knowledge on that."

Tsunade exhaled. Sometimes, she wondered why she had accepted the hat of Hokage.

Danzo Shimura was carefully peering around a corner, when his eyes narrowed. The girl followed him dutifully, albeit the noise she made while walking was horrendous to his sensitive ears. He would have picked up her movements within five rooms of distance —he was glad the Sound shinobi accounted to nothing in terms of practical skills, if they hadn't heard her. To think they were supposed to be 'Sound' based…what were they, deaf?

Two Sound ninja stood guard, both wearing their camouflage clothes and their mufflers obscuring their face, in front of a door at the end of the corridor. Believing Amaru, beyond that door was a long set of arrays and seals dedicated to the inner security of the complex. Only by passing through those could one access the inner core and the control room.

He deftly disappeared in a flicker, and extended his right hand in a swiping motion. Wind chakra soared through the air as deadly as it was silent, slicing through the throats of both the guards outside.

Calmly, he gestured for the girl to move closer. She did so, even though her face clearly betrayed her disgust and her fear at the deaths of the two sound-ninja. He smiled —it was easier to find out truth from deceit if someone wasn't at all trained in the arts. The naïve made the best allies: they did not comprehend the art of treachery.

Danzo watched the girl tap upon a console nearby, strange numbers beeping and humming as the doors slid open. A mechanical voice asked a few questions on some unknown and strange artery in the human body, and then the reddish lasers that covered the entire corridor in front of them disappeared when the girl answered correctly.

He grumbled in his mind. The technology of the Land of the Sky could be in Konoha's hands, if only they had proceeded with his plans. He had told Hiruzen to kidnap a few of their scientists, of their top researchers, and break their minds for their knowledge. Instead, all he had gotten was a scoff for the brutality he had suggested.

He remained quiet as the corridor gave way to a large circular room, on which a throne stood empty. Beyond that, another corridor led into the control room and the Zero-Tails's holding bay. The throne room was empty, but Danzo's eyes narrowed all the same. The air within was wrong…he could feel it.

He took a step forward, and then he fell flat on the ground and rolled away as a massive fist, belonging to an equally massive hand riddled with inflated muscles tore down the very ground he had stood upon.

Amaru screamed as she brought both hands to cover her face, while he jumped back and landed on the walls of the throne room, his eyes peering into the mass of flesh and overgrown muscles that was…

It could only be described as monstrous. Chakra flared visibly from the pores of the brownish and reddish skin, as dangerous looking black tentacles sprouted from the back of the man himself. His skin both rotted and regrew, his screams both increased and lowered in intensity as its blank eyes settled on him with a look of fury, the mouth frothing from sheer pain.

Danzo sneered as he twisted his body sideways, avoiding the incredibly inhuman speed the enemy seemed to possess as it jumped to slam his own humongous limbs against the wall the Yami had been an instant before. The walls cracked and broke apart, throwing the debris everywhere in the room as a light sheen of dust began to permeate the air. It was as if the mass of muscles was nothing more than a puppet, guided by mysterious strings. Danzo slashed at it with Wind Chakra, but the wounds inflicted merely healed within instants, vapours of chakra appearing from the closed wounds.

"Shinno-sensei," Amaru's voice came through cracked and in despair, as her eyes finally recognized her old sensei. Danzo ignored the voice as he spun in mid-air, using wind to redirect himself and reach for safety.

Shinno screamed and roared, cracking the ground beneath his feet as he emerged from the hole in the wall he had created through his passage.

Danzo landed, and soon dodged forward as the beast pursued him. The old shinobi left behind him a kunai and a steel wire tied to one extremity of the projectile flung in the floor and hooked to it. He unclasped the bundle as he charged, feeling the heavy breathing of the behemoth of muscles behind him. Danzo glided upon the ground, removing the attrition through the careful use of chakra upon his feet, making circles around the throne at the centre of the room as the maddening mass of muscles pursued him without a real thought in mind.

The old shinobi jumped as he saw the wire he had previously placed come into view. Chakra flew to sharpen and slice through the steel, and the next instant the amalgam of muscle and pain tore in half as his speed slowed down considerably. The thing gritted its teeth and growled slightly as the wire passed inch by inch through his skin.

The problem was that it reformed the next instant, and soon the bulky creature was beyond the wire…completely _unscathed_.

Danzo's eyes widened as the thing's hands formed strange round black spheres, which it then unleashed with a terrifying scream. He barely had the time to fall on the ground, letting them sail beyond him, before the monster was above him and ready to stomp him on the floor.

He exhaled wind from his mouth, pushing his body to the side and avoiding a devastating stomp that would have probably killed him outright, if not snapped his spine in half. The thing was a monster, not a human being. He heard the spheres impact against the walls then, and suddenly he realized he was dealing with the problem in the _wrong_ way.

The spheres detonated, tearing apart the concrete, the metal and the wall itself, _vaporizing it_. The backslash flung him across the room, just as Amaru screamed and brought her hands to her ears to cover them. The beast did not stop, but screamed once more thumping against his chest.

He shouldn't be considering that thing a simple brute filled with strength and nothing more. He should be considering that monster an outright Jinchuuriki.

Danzo…

Danzo smiled as he felt his heart thump strongly in his chest. The adrenaline, the feeling of fighting a battle meant to be lost by common shinobi, that feeling…it _excited him_. Like among the trenches in the midst of Kumogakure, like in the middle of the luscious forests of Kusagakure, or on the rocky verges of the volcanoes of Iwagakure. That feeling…

It was unmistakeable.

He unclasped a scroll from his vest, opening it and letting the puff of smoke disappear to reveal a short sword. Slowly, his wrist flexed as the blade itself filled with wind chakra. He took a loose stance; he let the tip of the blade touch the ground and the friction create sparks, which immediately ignited the blade itself.

Once, he would have fought side by side with Hiruzen, whose Fire techniques complemented his own. They had been quite the team, the Kami and the Yami…

Now, he'd have to shoulder this battle on his own.

He hoisted his sword high, parallel to his face as he brought his right foot back and flexed his left forward.

The monster charged.

_And so did he._

The wind blades soared through the air in their fiery reddish hue, as they slashed and tore through the muscles of the monster's chest. Danzo jumped and twisted, letting his blade slice through the thing's right shoulder from side to side and burning the wound to prevent regeneration.

The smell of charred flesh was pungent to his nostrils, but as he slammed his foot into the monster's face and jumped in mid-air, he came crashing down on the thing's back, slicing through it neatly and then making a small jump to keep his distance.

The beast's left arm snapped behind it, and as it did…it split in half. The lower side crumbled on the ground and turned to dust, the powdery remains floating away burnt by orange flames. The upper side instead…it pounced on the ground, foam on its mouth as it charged ahead once more.

"A beast made of madness," Danzo muttered as he twisted his Wakizashi, "shall never defeat the Darkness."

Amaru's hands went to her mouth in shock, as she watched the deformed and twisted body of her sensei jump for one final attack…only for the old shinobi's sword to impale him straight in the head and _split him in half_ alongside the spine.

"Burn to ashes," Danzo softly whispered, standing still once more behind the beast, as blood sprayed out from the open wound inflicted before fire consumed the entire thing turning it to charcoal and ashes. "That is the Will Of Fire."

As the corpse fell with a dull thud on the ground, Danzo sheathed the Wakizashi at his side, carefully strolling forward as he recovered the black mantle he wore. Holding it with his left hand on his shoulder, he turned to gaze at Amaru.

"Well?" he said then. "We have a Zero-Tails to subdue now, follow me."

Amaru just stared dumbfounded for a second, before emitting a startled gasp and standing up quickly.

"Y-Yes," she gave just one last look towards the body of her sensei, clenching her hands as she watched the charcoaled remains smoulder with little red flames.

She followed behind the man, trying to gaze at his face. Just…just how could he do that at his age? Even…even Shinno-sensei had never…

She tried not to cry. She tried, but she miserably failed as sobs began to wrack her body. Shinno-sensei was dead. She had seen him die…she…he had…it was…

Danzo schooled his features as he watched the girl quiver and then start to cry her heart out. It was pathetic. A true shinobi should never show his emotions to anyone.

_That's a lie…is it not?_

He froze midway through the corridor. The voice had come from further down.

_You __**feel**__ like everyone else._

Where did that voice come from?

_You __**suffer**__ like everyone else._

He sped up ahead, his left hand already unsheathing the Wakizashi. He stilled as he entered a large circular room, within which stood a long white stone bridge, at the end of which was a titanic creature that resembled a long dark snake. Four red eyelashes stood from its head, as a white porcelain mask acted as a visage for it.

_You killed my puppet, but maybe all you desired was to take its place?_

"How are you talking to me?" Danzo muttered.

_The same way you speak words of air through the wind, so I speak words of malice through your own. I was created to turn evil, despair, hatred into energy, power. To make from evil something good…and when I did…their fear of my power became my nourishment._

Danzo slowly kept sight of the beast with the corner of his eyes as he carefully walked to a halt near the border of the bridge. He narrowed his gaze then.

_Your distrust is refreshing…it __**feeds**__ me. Your anger is palpable…it __**satisfies**__ me. Your hatred, your anger, your desire for revenge, for power…it __**excites**__ me. Pain and blood shall fall freely upon the land of man. Do you wish for that power, to never feel pain, to never suffer? Do your broken bones ache for relief?_

"Get out of my head," Danzo snarled.

_It is not I that am in your head, Shimura Danzo…rather, your thoughts invade mine —do not confuse the Cause with the Effect…I taught it once this lesson, this very important lesson._

"What are you blabbering about?"

The thing's head moved to the side, as if it had just cocked it.

_One man kills another. Another man kills the first for revenge. Another man kills the second for justice. Three men kill the third and his family, to make it a done deal. Five friends kill the three men. Ten friends kill five. Twenty kill ten. A village kills another. Two villages bind together to kill the conquering village. Blood sprays the ground and the laments of pain and despair cloud the judgment of men._

_But the question is…__**why**__ did the first man kill?_

_Justice? Revenge? Anger? Fear? Lust? Was there a reason? Was it an accident? Was it the spur of the moment, the maddening thought of a mad man? Was it the clear-cut clarity of a premeditated deal?_

Danzo jumped with all the strength he could muster away from the bridge, just in time as hands covered in white gloves emerged from the stone to slam through the spot he had been a second before.

_The answer isn't any of that. The first man killed because his __**nature**__ told him so. Man is nothing but a __**beast**__, born to breed, to eat, to reproduce and to kill or die. You give yourself value whereas you truly have none. You give yourself importance, you claim to hold a destiny but…in the end…you are nothing more than __**specks of dust**__ that will forever linger at the deepest confines of reality._

_Can you claim to be more important than a __**sun**__, Danzo Shimura? Can you claim to know the Galaxy? Can you claim to wield powers to destroy and scorch this entire world within your hands?_

_I know of men who claimed that…I know of men who wielded that power within their fingertips…_

_And I know of men who __**pushed the button**__._

Danzo twisted his body in mid-air, avoiding spears made of dark chakra that sailed past him, as hands of white standing atop the tentacles tried to grab at him. Never before was he glad to have an affinity to wind, for it helped him duck in mid-air the attacks.

_This is the game of the flea and the giant, Danzo Shimura. For all your tricks, all your knowledge, all your skills…you will eventually succumb to brute power alone. There is nothing that power cannot by itself make. Even peace can be achieved by merely becoming as strong as a __**god**__…who would dare oppose one?_

He snarled and slashed with his sword at an incoming tentacle, only for the strength of the backslash to send him crashing against the wall itself. He gasped as the pain sharply shot through his back, before the amalgam of dark chakra plunged its arms deeply within him.

He screamed as he felt the sickening grime of the beast pour through him.

_Isn't that your purpose? To conquer all in the name of Konoha? But what of the children of the other villages? To conquer, to burn, to destroy…your wounds are they different from those of a Kumo shinobi? What makes you right beyond others? What makes your ideal, your ideology, your truth different from those of the others!? Nothing! You are all __**fickle ants**__ fighting over bread crumps! You cannot comprehend the true power of your gift…_

For a single moment, Danzo's eyes locked with those of the white mask belonging to the Zero Tails.

_And because of that…we who are born from your spite, we who grow festered in your hatred…we who possess the power to level mountains, to tear apart cities, to encompass in fire the whole world…we will __**exterminate**__ you like the ants you are!_

Then, Danzo ground his teeth as he felt pain stronger than before run through his entire frame.

_For we wish __**freedom**__…freedom from our __**immortality**__._

He was in a murky and inky darkness, where the noise of running water echoed completely all around him.

He remembered the place. He had trained there, repeatedly…with Tobirama-sensei. It was beneath Konoha, in a place where the waterworks let the water pour unhindered around to create fierce currents, upon which only a few skilled could trudge with their chakra controls.

There was light then, as his eyes looked to the sitting form of his sensei in the middle of the fiercest of whirlpools, sustained in its spot by chakra alone. He had never learned how to do that, but then again he had never been as strong as Tobirama…who the people claimed to be even stronger than Hashirama himself.

"Am I dead, sensei?" he asked quietly, as he took careful steps above the water, which felt solid to his feet.

"What is death, Danzo?" Tobirama retorted, eying him once. "I was about to use the 'kun' suffix, but you're too old for that, aren't you?"

Danzo's lips twitched. He was about to make a small smile, when he stilled himself. "Is this but an illusion?"

"I suppose you could consider it such," Tobirama remarked. "But then again, what are dreams, if not the subconscious delivering upon us what we seek to find?"

"So what I need Tobirama-sensei, is in here?" Danzo looked around carefully. Nothing of importance caught his eyes, but the light of sickly looking torches hung everywhere, giving his sensei's face a candid pallor similar to that of a ghost.

"Unfortunately not," Tobirama sighed. "I admit, I find myself loathe to accept such a stupid, cheesy, underrated source of power as 'love' to be the answer against the enemy known as Bijuu, but then again I never could understand what went through Mito Uzumaki's head, and I cannot sincerely comprehend why someone would be so stupidly rash as to believe it wholeheartedly." The Nidaime Hokage's head dropped slightly. "I think, in the end, the answer is simply that the absence of hate can either be _apathy_ or _love_, and of the two…the last one is the easier to feel."

"People kill out of love, _Emotions lead one to hate… and hate leads one to conflict and war…_" Danzo pointed out. "Sensei…you cannot be seriously telling me that—"

"I am not," Tobirama's eyes shone. "Remember my words, Danzo. First, comes the Mind of the shinobi, and then comes the Technique and finally the Body. It was always in that order, Danzo. Always. "

"A shinobi without a strong Body or a strong Technique can still use his Mind to overcome his enemies," Danzo muttered.

"Exactly," Tobirama nodded. "So think, Shimura Danzo. I cannot claim to comprehend how we met in here, but then again I have always been known as 'Tobira', so maybe…this is just the corridor towards your improvement, which necessarily must pass through me," slowly, the Nidaime Hokage stood up.

"One last spar, for the old time's sake?" the Raijin was unsheathed, and sparked in the air for but a single instant, before the Nidaime snorted and flung it away. "Always hated that piece of crap anyway, too noisy, too flashy…"

The lights suddenly disappeared around them. Danzo ducked beneath the passage of a fist. "I always preferred the _Darkness_, didn't I?"

Danzo smiled then, in the middle of the dark pitch-black nothingness that surrounded him. He smiled as he parried a blow, and brought up his own counter —which clanked against the armour of Tobirama creating sparks.

_First, you must look within and know yourself without losing your calm._

He rolled in the water, sending a stream of air against his sensei that blocked with a water wall.

_To be a shinobi is to sacrifice oneself_.

His eyes opened as air tore through his mouth, granting him an opening he exploited to escape the murky darkness of the Zero-Tails. He screamed as his good hand went through hand seals, unleashing from his fingertips a barrage of blades of wind.

_Closing your eyes to the sunlight, distinguishing yourself in the shadows._

_Akimichi Torifu, he had always been a jovial imbecile. Shrapnel tore him apart in the battle against Iwagakure._

He shouldn't have been doing the mission! He was supposed to remain in Konoha! Instead, the enemy scattered his limbs to the four corners of Iwa, and measured his intestines in front of the trenches to prove if their clan really had the longest bowels.

_That is the true form of ninja. Many ninja have died like that_…

_Uchiha Kagami. He couldn't help activating the sharingan against the chakra mines. His upper body vaporized in an instant. One moment he was there, laughing. The next…he was but a scattered amount of bits and pieces of flesh that fell from the air upon his teammates shocked faces._

Danzo twisted as he flew straight for the Zero-Tails' head.

_Tobirama-sensei blocked another of his strikes, but Danzo wasn't going to lose to him. Not anymore…not anymore._

His right hand slammed with wind chakra against the mask, cracking it as the creature screamed in sheer agony. Around him, the murky darkness began to enclose as if to smash him to a pulp. There was no exit. There was no escape.

_Niceties… will not make the world go 'round_.

Danzo closed his eyes, and then let Tobirama-sensei's fist connect with his chest, grappling him to a standstill with both his arms.

Tobirama just looked back at him, with a perplexed expression.

"If…my Body is weak…" Danzo muttered. "If…my Technique is insufficient…If…my Mind isn't sharp enough…"

_It's thanks… to people like that…_

"_My father and grandfather died in battle as ninja." He had told that to Hiruzen, in front of Tobirama-sensei. "It is only just I be the decoy."_

Tobirama just smiled, looking at him with a knowing look. "_Self-sacrifice is a ninja's duty" they both chorused._

…_that we have been able to maintain peace._

"_I am proud of you, Danzo. I have always been," Tobirama whispered, "And I knew…deep down…that you should have been Hokage."_

Danzo's eyes opened one last time to stare at the incoming tentacle just about to smother him to smithereens.

"…_**THEN LET MY SACRIFICE BE ENOUGH**__!_"

Seals of ink erupted from Danzo's own body, flowing in the air as snakes coiled to strike. The Zero-Tails screamed its agony as Danzo's hands remained firmly gripping on the mask of the monster. Tentacles pierced through the man's chest, as blood oozed out of his mouth.

"The Will Of Fire…" Danzo croaked with his last breath. "_**LET IT BURN YOU TO ASHES!**_"

He slammed his forehead, which held the metal strip with etched upon the symbol of Konohagakure, against the mask, hearing the satisfying cracking sound of the porcelain breaking as his reversed four symbol seal finished activating.

The next moment he fell on the ground, darkness clouding his vision. The chakra tags primed to explode began to detonate then, as the Prajna group left through their escape routes he had pre-planned.

He heard the trembling ground give way, as the weakened structure could hold no more. Cracks seeped through the walls as his vision lost focus.

He was going to die.

He would never become Hokage.

Then again…wasn't it enough, to save Konoha?

He closed his eyes. He could see it, the village bathed by the sun, the leaves twitching because of the breeze. He could hear it, their voices, their laughter…he could see himself sitting next to Hiruzen.

_You always were the leaves bathing in the sun…_

They were talking, weren't they? About normal things, common things, children things…

_Hey, Hiruzen…What do you think of me? What am I…to you?_

Had he asked that, back then? He couldn't remember…

_What question is that, Danzo? You're…my precious friend._

The voice broke through the haze of his mind, as his strength finally left him.

Everything was going to be all right, even as the Land of the Sky's fortress crumbled and tore itself apart, even as explosions rocked throughout the entire place made of steel and concrete…

Everything was fine…

…because Konoha was safe.

_Hiruzen…I leave the rest to you._

The tombstone in the middle of Konoha's cemetery, the one beneath which laid the body of the Sandaime, _cracked in half_.

A sudden downpour fell next, as Sakura hurried herself back home with the grocery in the plastic bags safely held within her hands.

"Really!" she huffed as she entered the house. She stilled for a moment, removing her shoes and shaking her head to get the water out of her hair. She saw the light in the kitchen, and smiled briefly before exclaiming. "I'm home!"

"Welcome back!" she heard from the kitchen, forcing herself to give a look of curiosity at the situation. Naruto was wearing a blue and comfortable-looking outfit, while Fu was sitting at the table and playing with what looked like an empty cup of ramen. Another cup was in Naruto's hands —albeit to be more precise, it was behind his back trying to hide it. Sai was instead holding on to a scroll, upon which he was painting something concerning Fu and Naruto, which she tried her hardest to ignore.

"Seriously?" Sakura's forehead sported a tick mark. "You're really spoiling your dinner over cup ramen?"

"But Sakura-_chaaaan_," Naruto whined with a light chuckle. "She made the puppy-eyes."

"I admit, Harem-Lord surprises me every time," Sai quipped. Carefully, he closed the scroll and hid it behind his back too after drying the ink. Sakura smiled sweetly, and Sai began to sweat as he finally decided to hand over the scroll rather than risk evisceration.

The scroll burned up nicely under the fire of the stove, and Sai wistfully thanked Kami he had made a carbon copy of it.

"Fu-chan, you can't make the puppy eyes to Naruto," Sakura said then, rolling her eyes as she threw in the bin the charred remains of the picture...clearly perverted.

"But it was fun!" Fu answered back with a knowing nod. "And it's nice eating together! Even Sai said it was nice to eat together!"

"And what about me?" she said with a huff, shaking her head as she grabbed the apron. "Out of the kitchen, all of you! I suppose I'll be preparing dinner all for myself then."

"Whipped cream?" Sai asked. "Hot chocolate?"

Sakura blinked.

"Don't you have that kink when Naruto eats you out?"

Sakura's face turned crimson as heat left her ears.

"SAI!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise, barely holding back his own amusement. Sakura instead did not hold back her fist. Sai flew in the next room at the toned down scream of 'Shannaro'.

"Oh, come on Sakura-chan! That's not fair!" Naruto pouted, as he remained behind while Fu went out of the kitchen to look over Sai's health status. The pale-skinned boy was hanging against the shelves of the library, his artist hat hanging loosely on his head as he felt himself doozy from the high-speed travel.

"I'm leaving tomorrow morning at three," Naruto said then, his tone returning serious. He stopped his smile midway, letting it fall in a grimace as his eyes became downcast. "Depending on how it goes, the length might vary a bit."

Sakura nodded, starting to chop on the radish. "I'm taking on an apprenticeship with the Hokage's student, Kato-san. She'll be teaching me for a while and, if I do well, she'll discuss giving me a spot at the hospital."

"Nice," he replied, giving her a thumb-up. "Fu is assigned here, the Hokage substitute will find something to do with her."

"Who did they choose?"

"Homura Mitokado," Naruto replied, humming. "Apparently he was in the same team as the Sandaime."

"Good to know," Sakura replied thoughtfully. "You aren't hiding something from me, are you?" she asked then, quietly moving her knife to slice through the radish as if it were nothing more than butter. "I'd be really angry if that were the case."

He nervously swallowed. "Who? Me? Come on, Sakura-chan, you know I…"

"Sakura-_chan_ is _not_ something you use to call me, _Na-ru-to-kun_," she deadpanned back, staring at him…just as the knife pointed in his direction too. "I know something happened, the question is what level of force I'll need to get it out of you," she added then with a sort of wicked smile. "Maybe I could burn the ramen on purpose?"

He shuddered. "That's evil!"

"Then just tell me if you _can_ tell me or not," she retorted. "It's not that difficult, is it?"

"I can't," he exhaled then.

"So it's Hokage's order, and thus it's Anbu stuff," she smiled sweetly. "See, it wasn't that difficult to find out!" she said with a slightly bubbly way.

He shuddered at the way she had spoken. "Sakura?"

"I'll just have to find out what the Hokage likes," Sakura began to say calmly as she started to chop with a bit of strength the carrots, "And then _I'll slowly take it away from her_," she added in a half-hiss, "until she has enough. Then, maybe, we'll discuss how she can't take you away from me so soon after we saw each other again. It was barely a week. _A week isn't enough_." She slammed her knife against the wooden board with strength, making a strong 'thunk' sound as it pierced through the wood.

There were tears streaking down Sakura's chins as she literally '_murdered'_ the carrot. "You won't fall for a hussy while you're gone, right?"

He swallowed nervously _again_, and it wasn't only for the way she was treating the vegetable. "No, why?"

"Good, that's good I suppose," Sakura shook her head. "I'm being overly emotional, aren't I?"

"I think…maybe just a lot of stuff happened?" he supplied, as he slid his arms around Sakura's waist. Quietly, he began whisper behind her ear. "Everything's fine, Sakura. You don't need me to tell you that, right?"

"I know but…it's like the world hates me. It's not fair," she muttered. "You spent more time in the hospital than with me, and then you're leaving already. I'll have to suffer Pervert and Fu, and the house is so big without you around and I'm babbling because…"

He kissed her, softly reclining her head so that their lips could touch with ease. His eyes looked into hers with a twinge of regret as hers closed as if lost in the kiss. When their lips detached, Sakura hummed in agreement, slightly licking her lips, as if to savour the taste.

"Everything. Is. Fine."

"Yeah," Sakura mumbled in agreement. Her head rested gently against his chest. "It is." She purred for a moment, snuggling her head against his chin, before returning to the dinner preparations. "Maybe you'll get to eat your share, Naruto."

He chuckled. "I'll count you to it, 'ttebayo."

Dinner was a jovial affair —there was laughter and quips from both Sakura and Sai. Fu was also happily munching away as if her own 'snack' hadn't affected her appetite at all. Naruto just sighed at that, before shaking his head.

The forgotten Sensei, Yugao Uzuki, sneezed as she looked towards her lover and husband Hayate with a sour look.

"I did what I could," Hayate retorted with his hands high in the air. "But they just didn't have it."

"It's not that difficult Hayate," Yugao replied bitterly, as she began to sharpen her sword.

"They don't sell Mustard Ice-Cream Yugao! It's no use sharpening your sword in front of me!"

"Doesn't matter," she muttered. "Then get flavourless Ice-cream and mustard, duh!"

"Flavourless Ice-Cream? You mean…ice?"

"No! Flavourless…Cream!"

Hayate dropped his head and brought his hands to the air. "Fine! I'll go looking for flavourless Cream!" and then he was out once more, under the downpour.

He was _sure_ it would stop raining the moment he had everything he needed, and the moment he did return home Yugao's mood would change again, and she'd ask for something else.

He just hoped it would be something he actually had in the fridge.

Then again…she _was_ pregnant after all…so there was that leeway?

**Author's notes**

**Is Danzo Dead? Who Knows.**

**Beach and sun kills me. Writing the Naru-Saku fluff gave my muse a heart attack. IF Kami wants, it will all be over by the next chapter. The Fluff that is.**

**I got a nice fever to boot, but I did manage to give the last checks to the chapter. **

**Only guy who can go for 39 degrees in summer? Me. Here.**

**Reason I didn't update soon.**

**Reason I got flu? Because I went to the Beach. Hate the Beach with me guys. Hate it.**


	52. Die in the Darkness, Diplomacy!

Introverted

Chapter Fifty-Two

The Land of Iron was, in a single word, cold. An incessant blizzard of freezing ice twirled in front of his eyes, as he moved a hand to swipe away the falling snowflakes from the porcelain of his mask. He carefully inched forward, eying the third set of bridges they still had to pass.

The Land of Iron was a strange geographical mystery. At its heart, was the three-Wolf mountain surrounded by an eternal snowstorm that never seemed to end. To reach it, three concentric checkpoints surrounded by deep crevices and running water had to be passed using bridges. Samurai _platoons_ patrolled the land and everywhere outposts made of wood or stone stood filled to the brim with more men able for war. Rickety towers of wood had archers standing guard at every mile, making the Land of Iron one of the most nightmarish places to infiltrate.

There was a moment of quiet contemplation as he gazed past the checkpoint, at the tower ahead and the mountain pass that dug deeply at the base of the Three Wolf Heads Mountain. The Toad Sage was holding himself pretty well, considering he was wearing his usual robes with but a beige overcoat. The Godaime was holding a smirk as her documents were processed.

She probably wanted to buy more sake, overall. Naruto sighed beneath his mask. Some Samurai were eying him pretty badly. He had yet to ask what the deal with the mask was, but it wasn't important. He wondered if they had Ramen... maybe an ice-cream version.

He wrapped the beige Anbu coat over his frame, refraining from shuddering. It did warm him, but the cold breeze seemed to find every nook and cranny available to enter. Five armed guards, up to the point where they reached the start of the dug tunnel, escorted them. There the five samurai left their escort to another one, who was wearing an air of dignity and stood without a helmet.

"Mifune," Tsunade said with a polite bow of the head. "It's been a while."

"Tsunade," Mifune replied. "I hope you are ready for some heavy politics. The other Kage are all fired up," the man remarked quietly as he guided them through the tunnel, grabbing one of the lit torches from the start of the passageway. "The Tsuchikage in particular…he all but demanded the meeting to start as soon as possible."

"I cannot wait," Tsunade muttered. She turned to gaze at Jiraiya. "You really don't want the hat?"

"Never," Jiraiya said with a knowing nod. Their feet trudged upon the thin patina of crushed snow until it soon gave way to simple rock, as they went deeper into the tunnel.

Mifune chuckled, before making a serious expression as he gruffly narrowed his eyes. "I will show you to your rooms, and then a meeting will be called within the hour."

"No time for a drink then," Tsunade grumbled.

"It is precisely because I know you would like one, that I fret the first day of discussion," Mifune answered. "I fear nothing less than the Slug Sannin wreaking havoc while drunk."

"It was one time," Tsunade said, raising her right hand with the index upwards. "Only one!"

"And we had to rebuild two bridges because of that," Mifune retorted. They stepped out of the tunnel then, and into a massive entrance hall that seemed to separate into long hallways with torches lighting the way around them.

Mifune handed the torch over to another Samurai, who proceeded to walk back in the dark tunnel with it —probably to put it back where it belonged.

"I paid for them!" Tsunade exclaimed.

"The check bounced back," Mifune drawled. "We samurai forgive…but we never forget the debts owed, Tsunade."

Naruto remained quiet as they were ushered into a spacious circular room, past a hallway filled with decorated drawings of battles fought between samurai. The room had four doors, plus the one they had stepped through, and the wood used was black...probably ebony. "There is a communal bath," Mifune pointed to the fourth door, "And three rooms. The most spacious is the one on the left," the samurai added.

"The other two are generally for the bodyguards of the ambassadors in question," Mifune said. "Please be ready within the hour."

Naruto tapped with his foot on the ground. It was solid rock, smooth and black. There were a few chairs circling a marble table in the middle of the circular waiting room, but nothing appeared overly luxurious. It looked simple, seemingly centred not towards luscious amenities, but humbleness and modesty.

"Now, I want you to remain as quiet as possible during the procedures," Tsunade said, pointing a finger to Jiraiya who merely scoffed and rolled his eyes, as if he was a child being punished. "Same goes for you, but I'm sure you won't need the warning," she added then, looking towards Naruto.

He nodded back, not trusting his voice to speak. This place was new, and strange. He had seen quite the number of Samurai and patrols, as if they always expected an assault to come from somewhere. It was furthermore strange because…

Because he hadn't seen a single farmer or merchant along the way.

"You have five minutes to make yourself presentable in turns," she gestured towards the bathroom. "Just wash away the filth, no need to use perfume…Jiraiya," the toad sage chuckled and then went first.

Naruto remained quiet even after his turn was long done, and as the Samurai escort called them, his eyes travelled from their equipment to their masks. He could understand why the Yoroi Toshi needed to be thick, to pass through plates of metal as strong as those. There were weaknesses in the junctures however, which he was sure he could exploit in a pinch.

He was sure Danzo-sensei would be proud of him, if he ever told him the first thing he did while meeting an unknown threat was to assess the best ways to destroy it.

The circular room they entered last was filled to the brim with samurai, all standing guard to a circular table that held on one of the sides Mifune, and on the other the rest of the Kage and their escorts —who stood behind their respective village leaders.

Even though it was meant to be circular, the form it ended up having was more of an oval, which meant that every Kage ended up having to slightly tilt their head to the right or to the left to fully view the ones opposite of them.

Naruto took his place and stiffly stood to attention, his eyes gazing upon the rest of the participants. Tsunade's seat was to the left of Mifune, while just next to her was the Kazekage. On the right of Mifune was the Raikage, who then had the Mizukage soon after. The Tsuchikage instead sat directly in front of Mifune, smiling brightly.

A white haired and dark-skinned shinobi with a sword strapped to its back, and another equally dark-skinned woman with green eyes and a massive wrack —that seemingly rivalled that of Tsunade— guarded the burly and muscle-bound looking Kage from Kumogakure.

Somehow, the lecherous gazes Jiraiya sent that way were understandable —unneeded, but understandable as Naruto too gave his own quick peak of the cleavage. Sunagakure had the Kazekage, whose entire body save the dark eyes hid behind the Kage's white clothes. His two guards were his oldest daughter —Temari, that was her name— and Kankuro —the other brother.

A female Kage wearing the symbol of the Land of Water, the newly appointed Mizukage apparently, was standing stiffly with her one-piece blue dress showing her forms. Her lips were full and in a pout, while behind her stood Zabuza of the Hidden Mist and another man wearing an eye-patch over one of his eyes.

Naruto knew the man from the Bingo Book; he was unmistakeable with his face covered by bandages and the giant sword strapped to his back. He wouldn't admit he had studied the man due to his morbid curiosity on the mission that had claimed Ino Yamanaka's life, but that was probably the only reason he knew that shinobi's name…and one he would not forget so soon.

The Iwagakure Kage was instead an old man, who was actually chuckling as his gaze went towards Tsunade. Naruto silently sweat dropped. Was the man a pervert like Jiraiya? Then again, cleavage for cleavage…he was a man too, he supposed. Behind him, his two guards both belonged to the same team he had met during the Exams.

One was Kurotsuchi, the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage. The other was Akatsuchi…and he knew nothing else of him.

A few ambassadors from the minor countries were also present, but they all stood on a table nearby, their gazes low as if they were merely onlookers granted some great privilege.

The major Kage assembled, Mifune cleared his throat. "The Kage Summit may now begin in this impartial ground. I will remind each of you that the Summit bans the usage of Chakra Techniques on other Kage, or their shinobi bodyguards. Usage of techniques upon the neutral members of the Land of Iron will incur into harsh fines. As the Summit was called by the Konohagakure no Sato Hokage, it is to him who goes the word first."

Tsunade cleared her throat and stood, her eyes looking from one Kage to the other.

"As you all know, Orochimaru of the Sannin built a sufficiently strong force of shinobi in the land of Rice Fields, and from there proceeded to launch assaults through Kusagakure and Takigakure. When we tried to meet with them at the border with Amegakure, they revealed the Land of the Sky, back to its _full potential_. Our army managed to evade it, but the threat is clear —like once in the past, we must band together to defeat it."

"Why should we bother?" the Raikage grumbled. "He's after _your_ blood, not ours."

"There are things we might convene upon, like the unauthorized presence of foreign shinobi on our territory…unless you wish to claim them Missing-Nin, Raikage?" Tsunade fluttered her eyelids for a moment, making a small smile. "Because if that is the case, then we will proceed with the recovery of the Two-Tailed Bijuu from its host…since a Missing-Nin Jinchuuriki is a grave danger to _everyone_."

The Raikage's composure didn't waver for a single instant —he just frowned for barely a second.

"She acted without my approval," the man shrugged. "You may extract the Bijuu and deliver it back to us at your leisure."

"Oh? No, I don't think so at all," she smiled. "I'll have you know, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was the one who battled her, and he was pretty straightforward. Then again, with his ability to read the minds of his fellow Bijuu…"

Naruto thanked Kami for the mask. He hadn't said that! He had told Tsunade about talking the Kyuubi talking with the Nibi, not that he had read the mind of the Cat Demon!

So this was what they meant with lying through your teeth? Yet it had come out so naturally…he didn't know whether to be in awe or not. The woman was bluffing hard —maybe that was the reason for the green jacket with the 'gambler' Kanji written on her back?

The Raikage scoffed. "As if that were possible."

"You can always ask your precious Guardian of Kumo, can't you?" Tsunade smiled. "About whether or not it is true, and about what cost you're willing to pay to let it be false."

The Raikage said nothing else, lost in thoughts.

"Kirigakure," the Mizukage began, "Is still undergoing repairs after the end of the Mizukage's reign of madness. We cannot provide assistance at the moment."

"Oh? But you can provide assistance to foreign countries in infiltrating ours, can you not?" Tsunade smiled, drumming her fingers on the table. The Mizukage harboured no outwards reaction, merely scoffing. Naruto's eyes moved past her, to where…

Why was Oonoki looking at him with such an intense glare?

Moreover, the gaze of the Kazekage…he did look bored, but he couldn't comprehend why the man was smiling at him every now and then or chuckling to himself. Was there something on his mask, or on his cloak?

"The old treaties concerned but the old Kirigakure, we are a new village, one which welcomes Bloodlines rather than fear them."

Tsunade smiled. "Then you won't mind if we reclaim a few islands that belonged to Uzushiogakure, and which then were gifted to Kirigakure in exchange for other things which the 'old treaties' entailed."

The Mizukage looked as if she had swallowed a toad. "Of course, we would be willing to rehash them out…"

"And I'm sure we will agree on making them perfectly the same as the old ones," Tsunade pointed out.

"Ah, amusing as this is," Oonoki interrupted, standing up, "But I think I'll better take my word now before any of you die of old age."

Tsunade and the Mizukage both sported a tick mark.

Oonoki cleared his throat. "I would like to propose an alliance between Iwagakure and Konohagakure, one cemented through the marriage of my granddaughter to Minato Namikaze's only son."

The silence that stretched through the room was something unbearable.

Breaths were held, people's eyes widened like saucers —even the Kage themselves barely held up their control, and by keeping their control, it meant they actually sputtered or had their mouth hanging open.

"That…That's a _joke_, isn't it!?"Tsunade exclaimed. "You can't be serious! Come on! Oonoki, have you gone senile finally!?" the Hokage exclaimed as she stared numbly at the Tsuchikage.

Oonoki merely chuckled at that.

"_WHAT THE HELL!?_" Kurotsuchi screamed, "What the frigging hell are you talking of gramps!? Me, married!? To the Yondaime Hokage's son!? Are you nuts!? _Are you out of your frigging mind!?_"

"What? No one sees the potential in this?" the Tsuchikage smiled as he carefully began to fondle his beard. "I'd think you'd be jumping on the occasion to finally end the hatred between our nations, Tsunade. I have the approval of the Daimyo of the land of Earth to boot! Of course, the boy would have to come and stay in the Land of Stone, but that's something we can negotiate on."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "Ah…I see…so this has nothing to do with his condition, is it?"

"Condition?" Kurotsuchi grimaced. "What is he like? Gross? Old? Lost a limb somewhere?"

Naruto felt his throat constrict. What were they talking of, with him in the room!? And why was Tsunade actually _considering_ the offer?

He didn't know what the situation between Iwagakure and his father was, more than the fact that his father had been the reason it had ended —it was in all history books after all— but he supposed…it had to be _bad_, judging by the level of shock everyone else was sporting for the mere _proposal_ of the offer.

"In part," Oonoki nodded. "After all it's only fair…you do have quite the selection of Jinchuuriki, do you not? Takigakure's is in your village, you captured the Nibi, and the three tails is roaming free in the sea… I'd say, one would think hoarding all that power for oneself would mean preparing to wage a war of…domination."

"And why would I give up on the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki then? Even more if he's the Yondaime's son? Why should I deliver him to your village, where I'm sure you'd need but an instant to make a 'training accident' happen and make the Kyuubi disappear into the guts of one of your shinobi?"

Oonoki just smiled, "Well, now you're just wounding me, Tsunade. There can only be an Uzumaki, to control the Kyuubi. It has _always_ been like that. Of course to accept a proposal such as mine would be stupid of you without reassurance." He looked towards the Toad Sage. "He can come too if the boy needs a bodyguard."

"Oonoki," Jiraiya was the one who spoke next, his eyes hard. "What's the real deal? I've only seen few act as mad as you are being right now…where's the catch? You can't expect us to believe you'd suddenly invite me to your village like that, nor that you'd be merely doing a marriage to strengthen an alliance between two countries who hate each other so much…"

"Because youngsters, when you reach my age…you start seeing patterns," Oonoki smiled. "And this is the perfect way to ensure an alliance. I will send a few choice members of the second Tsuchikage's clan as collateral. Your Aburame clan would enjoy a talk with them I'm sure…and furthermore concerning training accidents…"

Here the man's eyes glinted. "I will be personally teaching the boy since… after all…he will _succeed_ me as Tsuchikage."

"Gramps?" Kurotsuchi muttered with her voice filled with fright. "What are you…saying? Isn't father…supposed to?"

"What I'm saying," the old Tsuchikage continued, ignoring his daughter's cracked voice, "Is that if there is one person I will approve of as my successor, it is the son of the Yondaime Hokage."

"But the Yondaime killed my aunt! He killed your daughter, Gramps!" Kurotsuchi exclaimed. "He killed hundreds!"

"I know," Oonoki nodded. "And his son…I hope he is even a fragment of what his father is… Because his son…oh, his son was kind enough to _sell_ the legacy of the Yondaime to the highest bidder."

Naruto froze.

Silence, which had been out of shock, did not lift from the room, but it _changed_. It felt far heavier than before. The implications of the Tsuchikage's words were far, far stronger than what they appeared at first sight…and Tsunade knew that even if they were false, to claim such a thing…

"He was kind enough to show that his love for Konoha did not extend past money itself," the Tsuchikage slowly added. "He was _also_ smart enough to display that he, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, the son of the Yondaime…did not love his village at all…"

There was a feral smirk on Oonoki's face. "This is why…I think he would become my most prized student and one of the most loved Tsuchikage ever, after me of course..."

"The legacy of the Yondaime?" Tsunade asked slowly. "The Hiraishin?"

"Of course," Oonoki smiled back.

Naruto stilled. No, it was the Rasengan. He had delivered the Rasengan. Yet Oonoki was lying, but if he said the truth…if he didn't, he could still deny. If he did…he'd have to admit having taken the Rasengan scroll from the cache his father had placed in the Konoha cemetery.

"You'll pardon me if I find your lack of proof…" soon after Tsunade said that, the scroll that Naruto knew contained the Rasengan popped out from within the Tsuchikage's robes.

"Let us say…he gave me a bonus to begin with," the smile gracing the lips of Oonoki was positively wicked and feral, like that of a wolf who has just found its prey. "The intermediary of our exchange, by the way…sends his regards."

The way the Tsuchikage looked at him then…there was no doubt. The old man _knew_ he was there, beneath the mask. Naruto began to sweat.

Kakuzu had sold the Rasengan to Iwagakure. Oonoki was lying about possessing the Hiraishin, but the Rasengan? Oh, he had that down: he was sure of it.

The Mizukage giggled then, a harmonious chuckle that escaped her full lips. "How amusing! To see such a thing," she looked towards Tsunade, who was standing flabbergasted at such a revelation. "I might be new to this Kage business…but are all summits as interesting as this one?"

"Quiet," the Kazekage said smoothly, silencing the Mizukage. "This is an interesting conundrum," the leader of Suna flexed his fingers together. "On one side, we have a seemingly excellent offer, but on the other…I wonder if the true extent of Oonoki is not simply to grab for him the _entire_ legacy of the Yondaime and turn it against Konoha. How difficult would it be, I assume, to offer protection from Konoha's assassins to the betrayer that is Naruto Namikaze?"

At the mention of the word 'betrayer' Naruto had to hold back his tongue from screaming that he wasn't a traitor…because in the end…he _was_ one. Sure, he had acted out of fear and because he hadn't wanted to leave Fu in the hands of Kakuzu but…but it was unmistakeable what he was.

_He was a traitor_.

The Kazekage smiled towards Tsunade. "Of course I know his name, the _ground_ whispered it to my ear, shall we put it like that," he carefully tapped on the table's surface. "As I see it, Oonoki's offer is actually quite clear-cut and fair. On one side, he will try to bring Naruto to his side. On the other, he will have to allow the Toad sage within his country, but the man will be limited to following Naruto around twenty-four hours a day, preventing him from spying. The Rasengan technique is clearly proven to be in the possession of Iwagakure, but for the Hiraishin…we are still in doubt over that," the Kazekage hummed.

"Why would I accept the offer then? If Naruto really betrayed Konoha, then I should place him into custody rather than let him go into an enemy village." Tsunade remarked, her right index creating a sharp crack on the surface of the table —where she had begun drumming her fingers on. "If not outright extract the Kyuubi from him."

"Ah, my dear Godaime Hokage," the Kazekage remarked. "But if you do let him go, would it not be a show of goodwill for the other nations? You do possess far more Jinchuuriki than the other countries…and power begets trouble most of the time."

There was a quiet moment of contemplation, once more, in the room. It lasted only a heartbeat, but Naruto's throat felt constricted and his tongue dry. He needed to get outside, to get some fresh air or drink some water…he'd go through a blizzard too, if only to cool his head.

"I need time to think this through," Tsunade grumbled. "And this isn't the reason I called the summit in the first place!"

"No, but it is the reason Iwagakure will accept to help you," Oonoki remarked calmly. "And you can tell your 'Wolf' to come visit me as soon as possible…my proposals, after all, are not limited to having _you_ as my spokesperson. If he actually wishes to betray, he will find that Iwagakure can be…_extremely_ accommodating."

Then Oonoki smiled, and in that moment Tsunade knew —she just _knew_— that something was terribly wrong with the entire affair.

"Then I suppose we will advance our own," the Raikage remarked. "You can either hand back the Nibi Jinchuuriki, or we'll just let the Land of the Sky work its way through Konoha."

"My," the Kazekage said then. "It seems like treaties are really made of ink and paper, rather than honour and promises." The man cocked his head to the side, "Then again, to assume Honour would mean to be dealing with Samurai, not Shinobi."

"Is there a point you're trying to make?" the Raikage huffed.

"Yes," the Kazekage nodded. "I say…you are surprisingly close to Otogakure are you not? I wonder…if certain transactions of weaponry were to become public…who would suffer? If certain key documents made their way elsewhere…in the wrong hands…"

"Call your hand Kazekage," A growled. "I'm not one to tolerate bluffing, especially one as bad as yours!"

"You sold weapons to the Mizukage's loyalist forces and to the rebels…which is fine, for an arms' dealer. Yet…you also sold the rebels' locations to the Loyalist themselves. Then again, you did not know that the Mizukage would soon receive money from the Gatou Corporation, nor reinforcements from Amegakure did you?"

"How do you know that, Kazekage?" it was the Mizukage who spoke softly then.

"I had one of Amegakure's caravans intercepted," the Kazekage smiled. "From there the ledgers told me the entire story…infiltrating a civilian corporation was easy work afterwards. It was trickier to find the trail of weapons and information exchange of Kumogakure…but I still managed it in the end."

A few documents and pictures appeared from the man's sleeves, sliding across the table until they reached their intended targets.

"It's not over yet," he admitted with a smile. "From Iwagakure, we have a request for minerals that the Land of Claws was happy to oblige, which brings us to the next point: military production of Iwagakure's forges has increased. They're actually preparing _ships_, to launch an attack upon the neutral countries of the Land of Tea and Moon, but Kumo has its eyes on them too, of course."

Here Orochimaru smiled, showing the bright white teeth that belonged to the Kazekage's skin.

"Which is why the deal sounds _rotten_ to the core, Tsunade," the Kazekage stood. "He needs a Nine to defeat an Eight, and he doesn't plan on letting the boy live further than when he becomes useless, but if he manages to get his little Granddaughter pregnant anyway, he gets bonus points when he later will try to tear apart Konoha and install a puppet-Hokage."

The Kazekage made a mock bow. "I applaud you, I applaud you all for your sickening idiocy in planning ways to backstab and tear apart each other. Ranging from the Mizukage's ploy of trying to get Uzushiogakure's main land back with a fake Uzumaki heir, to the Kusagakure's ambassador who is waiting for his chance to ask for the usage of the Gokuraku no Hakō which has returned into his hands after an Anbu delivered two sharingan eyes where they were needed…"

Slowly, the Kazekage began to clap.

"You never fail to amaze me, with your incessant need to backstab, betray, and achieve a greed so high it is a wonder any of you can still be civil to one another," the man shook his head. "Then again, you are but a minuscule _speck_ of the true devastation that rings around the world. Anyone has ever been south, beyond the Elemental Countries? There's an entire region devastated by war…which isn't even something to bother with," Orochimaru rolled his eyes. "Considering what lies hidden in the so called 'industries' of Iwagakure."

"Kazekage…" Oonoki's voice was a low growl.

"Oh, shut your mouth you old relic," Orochimaru shot back. "Diplomacy? Diplomacy between shinobi? Let the Daimyo have their courts and their ambassadors…we are Shinobi. Our diplomacy lies in the gold, doesn't it, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto's breath hitched behind the mask. He took a step back.

Suddenly, he felt observed by everyone else and cursed his stupidity beneath the mask.

"Ah Naruto-kun…I had such high hopes for you," the Kazekage shook his head. "I hoped you would not fall…your world of peace, Naruto…but then again, you are not Hokage yet are you? So tell me, Naruto-kun…can a traitor believe in a dream that requires trust to work?"

Naruto swallowed, but did not talk as the Toad Sage beat him in answering.

"Orochimaru?" Jiraiya spoke then. "Was it Orochimaru who told you that? _How_? Not even my spy network could reach into Iwagakure's foundries and we suspected a lot but…"

"I would be a _horrible_ spy if I were to reveal my agents," the Kazekage chuckled. "You think you possess a spy network, Jiraiya? You possess a bunch of imbeciles who drink themselves to a stupor every day and every night, of whores that spend more time with their legs open then with their ears on the _ground_…"

The Kazekage hummed once more.

"Then again, you didn't know that the Sandaime personally ordered Orochimaru to infiltrate Kumogakure and make the previous Gyuki Jinchuuriki lose control of its tailed beast, did you?"

The Raikage jumped to his feet, slamming his hands against the table as he yelled a powerful 'WHAT!?'

"We have an alliance, Kazekage!" Tsunade exclaimed.

"No, Tsunade," the Kazekage smiled as he shook his head. "You _had_ one with the Kazekage."

The man's hand went to his face and slowly, in front of everyone else, the flesh was twisted and pulled out like it were nothing more than a mask.

Orochimaru of the Sannin watched with a smirk on his face the looks of shock and wonder of the rest of the Kage assembled, and he laughed at their expressions that soon morphed into understanding and then ire.

"The Kazekage was no saint either —mark my words— and he _did_ make many deals with me to boot…but that is no longer important. One should not talk ill of the deceased now, should he?"

The next moment, he became intangible as attack after attack washed over him in the form of wind blades, kunai, random bursts of explosions —even Oonoki tried to pulverize the spot he was on…

When their attacks all failed, he walked forward and slowly began to clap in the middle of the destroyed room.

"Very well," he commented. "Very, very well," he drawled out.

"O-Orochimaru!? W-_What have you done?_" Jiraiya's voice came out then as he watched his traitorous teammate smirk at the assembled Kage. Completely unscathed, Orochimaru of the Sannin was smiling at them. It was a nightmare. It had to be a dream, a horrible one. There was no other explanation for it.

"Let me tell you," he said showing his Sharingan blazing with amusement, "that while your actions are endearing, they cannot stop me. I am Immortal. I am Invincible…" he made a mocking gesture of bowing towards Mifune. "And I'm the most honourable person among this bunch of thieves and liars."

"The sharingan, uh?" the Raikage muttered. "Well, if I get your head it just means I'll keep it for posterity mounted on my wall!"

"Unfortunate as it is, I'm not really here to talk more," Orochimaru shrugged. "I just wanted to tell you all, a word of warning if so you wish to consider this…" he clasped his hands together. "_I know everything_. In our world, Knowledge is power. I know all there is to know about _all_ of you, by tomorrow if I so wish I could plant a kunai in the heart of anyone present in this room…_and you would be unable to stop me_."

The snake sannin shook his head. "Yet my destruction would be limited, surgical even. I dislike having to face rubble and chaos…I prefer tidy order. This is thus my word of warning towards you all: fight each other, kill each other…but you will always be beneath me! Amusing, is it not? You are all but pathetic excuses, born to breed hatred and violence in the world…and finally, the world has answered back your calls!"

He spun around, "One year from now, I will claim what is my due."

His sharingan eyes shone as he began to disappear. "Kill each other before then, and I will enjoy watching your senseless slaughtering ensure!"

Before anyone could react, Orochimaru of the Sannin was gone.

Naruto closed his eyes. The actions of the snake sannin made no sense. He had brought forth distrust, but then again nothing excessively worth angering…

It was then, that the smell of fire and the sharp sound of ground cracking ensued. Everyone jumped away as the floor gave way to dark flames that burned through the ground itself in their devouring hunger. Naruto's feet slid across the smooth surface all the way to the above wall, where he unleashed a Rasengan to create a safe passage for the Hokage and Jiraiya to follow through.

As they ran up, towards the rooftop of the tower that held the Kage Summit, Naruto's breathing grew ragged. What was he going to do now?

"Boy," Tsunade's voice came stern and demanding. "We will talk more about this later."

He shivered. That voice…it didn't promise anything good at all.

He stilled and lowered his body down on the ground just as a giant shuriken enflamed with black flames soared through the air slightly above him. Had he remained standing, he'd have been sliced in half.

Jiraiya stopped, looking towards the figure clad in the Akatsuki cloak. Itachi stood there, his eyes narrowed. "_Amaterasu_." The moment those words were whispered through the blearing snowy wind, the same black flames erupted once more.

The aim of his eyes however…

It was not Tsunade, or he the target.

Naruto was soon engulfed within a circle of them, unable to move or jump as they formed a veritable barrier surrounding him. "Brat! Get back in!" Jiraiya yelled, hoping the boy would be smart enough.

"I asked one thing to the Hokage," Itachi accused, pointing his finger towards Tsunade. "For my brother to be _safe_ I exterminated my clan…well, this is me, evening the scale…a Jinchuuriki for a dead clan."

Then, Itachi closed his right hand in a fist as his Mangekyou sharingan bled.

The Uchiha then jumped backwards, as Tsunade's punch came barrelling down on the side of the tower his feet were on. Large cracks appeared on the point of impact, cracking and destroying good chunks of the tower's walls as they fell downwards. The Toad Sage swallowed in nervousness. That wasn't good.

Jiraiya hadn't seen Naruto enter the tower, but he hadn't heard anyone scream so he sincerely hoped the boy had survived. He went quickly through hand seals, extracting a scroll from his vest as he charged ahead. When the eyes of Itachi went over to him, he brought the scroll up just in time to absorb the Amaterasu flames.

He ground his teeth as he felt the heat wash over the paper. If even a single tongue of fire passed by, it would burn him for seven days and seven nights…and he'd have to amputate the limb to avoid a horrible death. Behind him, Tsunade pushed forward from his right side, forcing Itachi to stop gazing at him and dodge the incoming blow by quietly pushing his body to the side.

Jiraiya jumped forward, ignoring the feeling of gravity trying to get him to smash against the ground as he flung a volley of shurikens to distract Itachi, while Tsunade kept the pressure on the traitorous Uchiha with her fists.

"Tsunade! You're going to bring down the tower!"

"I'll pay for it later!" the slug sannin screamed back.

"That's not the problem!" Jiraiya grumbled as summoned a stone sword from the holy mount of toads, before slamming it in a long arch against Itachi's own blade —that the boy had brought forth from his cloak's sleeve. The Mangekyou Sharingan of Itachi bled as Jiraiya kept his gaze firmly on the shinobi's cloak. The problem arrived when Itachi unclasped it and let gravity bring it down —as he burned the cloth with Amaterasu and then _sliced_ ti into hundreds of fragments that were scattered by the wind and the gravity.

Jiraiya brought both hands together, summoning a wall just in the nick of time.

A wall made of the stomach of a Mount Toad.

He was sure whoever's stomach he had used would certainly have a word with him within the next day, but it was an emergency! The flames burned through the flesh as he deftly circled around the tower while Tsunade pressed on undaunted. The Amaterasu fragments pulverized before they could touch her as lightning sparked through the pores of her skin.

"Why are you doing this, Itachi!? You're going to start a war!" Tsunade barked out. "Orochimaru's the one who took your brother's eyes!"

"He is also the one who told me the truth! He told me the real reason the massacre happened! The Uchiha clan wasn't slaughtered because of a coup, but because with our sharingan, we could _control_ the Bijuu…_AND EXTRACT THEM FROM THEIR JINCHUURIKI!_"

Tsunade gritted her teeth. "That's a myth!"

"It isn't, when you prove it true!" Itachi yelled back, "But it matters not! Everything will wash away in the flames of purification! The world of the shinobi ends with this incoming war! May you suffer and die," both eyes of Itachi shone as a giant construct of chakra materialized to shield him from Jiraiya's attempt to attack him from his sides with two Kage Bunshin. "For the sins you have committed."

"Weren't you the pacifist, Itachi?" Jiraiya ground out as his clones disappeared in puff of smoke. The real Toad Sage was at the top of the tower, drawing upon a scroll. "What happened to you!?"

"As my eyes lost their light," the traitorous Uchiha commented, "they opened to the truth," and in that instant, the S-rank missing ninja jumped to the side, avoiding the crumbling tower that the latest kick from Tsunade had broken beyond repair.

Jiraiya cursed under his breath as he jumped too, letting go of the scroll as he summoned a Toad to cushion the fall.

Gamabunta answered the call. Tsunade flickered to land atop the Toad Boss too, but by then it was too late…Itachi was long gone. Jiraiya began to curse loudly.

He just hoped Naruto was fine.

Zabuza of the Hidden Mist was a master of the Kirigakure No Jutsu, and he was not stupid. In the middle of a fire however, using that technique came with quite the difficulty. Still, when he had seen the boy responsible for the probable death of Haku —there had been no requests from Konoha in exchange for the girl, so he had no doubt she was dead— he had taken his chance the moment he had watched him leave.

The boy was Naruto Namikaze, the son of the Yondaime, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. He was the one who had nearly killed Haku the first time…and he had no doubt that in the end, he had done the deal.

The Mizukage probably knew what he was up to, but she hadn't yet stopped him so everything was fine.

He watched the boy fall from the ceiling as black flames consumed all around him, and just as the brat was dusting off and stumbling back up…he struck as fast as he could with a vicious _stab_.

The blade pierced the Anbu Operative straight through the back, snapping away three ribs as it tore a lung and emerged from the other side.

Stabbing with a giant broadsword was lethal, no questions asked.

"This is for Haku, bastard," he grumbled as he kicked the corpse off the blade. The cleaver, who shone brightly as it fed upon the iron of it to regenerate its sharpness, drank the blood avidly. "Rot in hell."

He turned to leave.

The body twitched.

Zabuza spun around and brought up his sword just in time as a chakra laced claw slammed into him and sent him flying out of the tower before it collapsed. Zabuza landed upon the hard snow as a blizzard began to pick up in intensity, eying the opponent in front of him.

The boy was still standing, pale blue flames burning through his wounds and closing them one after the other. With a sickening noise of cracking bones, the ribs regrew and returned to their rightful position. The lung repaired, his eyes narrow, Naruto touched the wound he had suffered and chuckled.

"This is new," he acquiesced. "_But I like it_."

In the middle of the blizzard, Zabuza spun and sliced ahead just as Naruto jumped up in the air to avoid the swiping motion of ice needles that formed alongside the blade —and then had been thrown by the motion. Zabuza closed in, making an arch as his enemy parried with a _frigging Tanto._

Wind chakra flew through the blade of Naruto, holding down against one of the seven swordsmen of the mist own blade.

It wouldn't last, but it would be enough to get some distance.

Five Kage Bunshin popped into existence as Naruto pushed his body away from the Kirigakure shinobi. The five tried to stab the man, only for him to push them in mid-air —exploding in puffs of smoke when Zabuza's cleaver spun to slice through them all.

"Running, are we?" Zabuza growled.

"A shinobi who doesn't run isn't worthy of being a shinobi," Naruto quipped back as the blade sliced through his neck. There was a puff of smoke, and the Kage Bunshin disappeared.

"Damn Jinchuuriki," Zabuza snarled. He knew he should retreat. The boy —if he was smart— had probably retreated already.

The snow increased in intensity, before a snarl forced Zabuza to twist and avoid a slash from…claws?

His chest sprayed out five thin lines, like a cat paw scratching him —yet it was so deep the blood was pouring out and spraying on the snow itself. At the same time, the Demon of the Hidden Mist flung his fist against the enemy's face, the punch connecting with the Anbu mask of the Wolf and splintering it into fragments that fell on the ground, while the owner of the mask retreated in the shadows once more.

Zabuza exhaled slowly, readying his blade. He had seen the brat's face now. He had haunted cerulean eyes, gaunt cheeks, and pale _blond_ hair. He looked more like a living dead, rather than a breathing shinobi. The strength behind his attacks however…it was all there.

"Zabuza-sama," Haku's voice called to him from the middle of the snow. "Come…"

"Genjutsu won't work on me, boy," Zabuza muttered, his eyes looking elsewhere.

"When you saved me from hunger…in that corner…I was glad…Zabuza-sama, please…I am real."

He shook his head and then thrust his blade behind him, just in time to stab once more through the Jinchuuriki's midsection who had tried to silently creep behind him.

This time, he plunged the sword down on the snow with the boy.

The Jinchuuriki was hissing, his eyes shining blue, as he seemed to be growling and grabbing at his blade with both hands. As if he could lift the Butcher's Cleaver with his bare hands, or stop him from plunging it down to the hilt in the monster.

"You should have left when you had the chance," Zabuza growled. "And this Genjutsu? It just made me angrier."

The blade of the swordsman of the mist met with the _bare hands_ of the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, who stilled the sword and gripped tightly onto it —_actually stopping its descent_. Zabuza's eyes narrowed. "What the hell are you, kid?"

"You can call me," Naruto growled, blood burning brightly down his lips and evaporating, "Your _death_."

Naruto slammed his fist forward, light blue flames erupting from his hand as they punched the Demon Hidden in the Mist, sending him to fly in the air. The Kirigakure shinobi left behind a trail of torn apart rock and snow as he flew, but he did not let go of the Kubikiribōchō, bringing it away with him in the air as a rivulet of blood fell from the blade's side. With an inhuman roar, Naruto slowly got back up on all four as blue flames burned his wound to a close.

"Your sins," he growled. "The deaths you caused," he snarled. "I will purify you from them!"

A light sheen of blue chakra erupted and morphed into flames, as a tail made of pale blue began to shimmer on his back. Zabuza stumbled back on his feet just as the light sheen of a ghost trudged in front of him. No, to be more correct…a horde of them.

He had killed many.

He had killed far too many to count. There wasn't just a few dozens, no…there were hundreds. Thousands of ghosts, of people killed both by order of Yagura and for his own entertainment or gain. People killed…students of the Mist Academy he had killed…

And they were all watching him.

"Why?" one of his childhood friends asked him, eying with empty eyes his blade, "Was that worth it, Za-chan?"

His mother looked at him with scorn. "Out of all the choices…a lap dog always, uh?"

"You are bound to serve me, not some monster with a bloodline!" Yagura's own ghost showed up, snarling at him as if he was still alive.

Zabuza's eyes shone with fury as the ghost of Haku appeared next. He gritted his teeth and grasped tightly on the handle of Kubikiribōchō with both his hands, as a thick purple miasma left his shoulders forming a demonic shroud on his back.

"You know, brat," he whispered as his intense glare turned murderous. "If you wanted to piss me off…"

"_**YOU. MANAGED. IT!**_"

With a terrifying roar, Zabuza swept ahead his blade as he twisted his entire frame, creating a devastating typhoon of ice as water chakra flowed in the sword. Naruto's arms went up as he roared back, the blue flames burning through the unleashed wave of ice that slammed into him. The sizzling sound of ice melting into water and then of the water itself boiling reached Zabuza's ears, as the swordsman jumped in mid-air to land a devastating downward swipe on the brat's head.

The tail made of cerulean chakra came up to parry it, and Zabuza ground his teeth as he roared and pushed through it, slicing it in half and continuing the Kubikiribōchō movement all the way till it hit the flesh of the boy's chest. Blood sprayed for but an instant, before the wound healed and the Kirigakure shinobi had to bring up his blade in a parry position, holding his ground against a punch thrown by the Jinchuuriki.

"If this is the extent of your power," Zabuza growled, "Then let me show you how a real demon fights!" the purple shroud that had slowly surrounded Zabuza's back morphed into a diabolic-looking face, and as the wave of murderous desire rampaged through the ground…

Naruto remained unaffected.

If anything, a throaty chuckle escaped his lips.

"Only this?" Naruto growled. "Let me show you…what death is all about."

The wind died down. The snow stilled. The colours lost their vibrancy. The white snow became grey, dirty, as waves of chill and cold that far surpassed normality poured through Zabuza's entire body as a set of bright cerulean eyes locked with his.

In that instant, Zabuza flung a kunai at the brat. A small floating patch of sand rose to block it, and Naruto simply smiled. The sand floated around him, grinding and twirling against the snow and itself.

"Well," Naruto exhaled. "Do you really wish to continue?"

Zabuza's eyes narrowed. "You're reaching the end of the rope, aren't you?" the Demon growled. "I can see it." The flames that surrounded Naruto's body were flickering with far less intensity than before, the tail swishing behind him reducing itself of length like the fuse of a candle.

Naruto ground his teeth in frustration. He didn't know where the power came from, but he had _used_ it. It would be stupid not to: especially with such an enemy.

Carefully, he lowered his body down as he prepared to charge ahead on the melted snow. A few snowflakes fell between the two, as Zabuza readied his blade again.

"You know," the demon Hidden of the Mist remarked. "I take back what I said…you truly are a demon," Zabuza muttered. "Only a Demon would have those eyes, after all."

"I was an Anbu back in my days," Zabuza added as the silence stretched on, both shinobi waiting for their chance to strike. "I have not lost my touch and I fought against Wolf once too. Wearing a mask doesn't make you as strong as its previous wielder. Calling yourself an Anbu doesn't make you one…" Zabuza's teeth bit tightly on the bandages around his mouth, tearing them apart as he revealed his face.

"So, from a Demon to another…I'll let you see my face before I kill you," and then Zabuza disappeared as a thick cold fog sprouted from the very ground.

"Larynx," Zabuza whispered from the right side, as Naruto hastily ducked downwards. A kunai sliced through his neck all the same, forcing him to choke on his blood as he quickly removed it with a wet lurching noise. He gagged as looked around frantically.

"Spine," a sharp crack resonated as the Kubikiribōchō pierced Naruto's spine, making the boy scream in pain as the fires of his chakra proceeded to heal the wound all the same, leaving him trembling on the ground.

"Lungs," a sharp pain passed through him, as twin elongated kunais pierced his lungs and made his breathing ragged. Those, they were not removed.

"Liver," another kunai pierced his body. "Jugular vein," another kunai, passing through his neck and letting him bleed out, "Collarbone," one more, painfully inserted in his neck. "Kidney…" more pain flared through him, agonizing and horrendous, "And finally…"

Naruto was no longer breathing by that point.

"Heart."

The Kubikiribōchō fell down sharply against the boy's chest, impaling him there, as blood began to pool on the ground all around him.

The snow began to fall once more as the fog lifted, as Zabuza looked up, to the greyish sky. "There…" he exhaled. "Haku…I've avenged you."

A single snowflake fell on the Kirigakure's shinobi face, melting into a tear that slid down his cheek.

He never heard the sharp rock spear pierce through his heart and smash him on the ground, tearing him savagely apart.

Naruto was in complete darkness.

Around him, he could see nothing but a thin light away in the distance. It was then that he heard a pulse. It was a heartbeat, but it was enormous. The titanic heart —wherever it was— thumped again. He looked around, but could not find it in the middle of the darkness that surrounded him.

The place was supposed to be quiet. It was supposed to be a place to relax.

It wasn't.

Darkness had crept through the room. He could imagine it, as it once was, filled with lights, candles, and warmth. He could remember it, the laughter that ensued and echoed as _she_ played with her brothers and sisters. There was only happiness back then, and while there was sadness, it never lasted long.

Then slowly her brothers and sisters began to disappear.

She felt alone.

Her father no longer was there.

She was alone.

There was no one to play with, no one to console her when she cried.

She was alone.

She felt it then. People died, she knew it. She felt it then…people died…because she had to do her job. Purification…of the soul, was it?

To…reincarnate, better?

She could not remember her purpose, but she was there and she lived and breathed for as long as there would be death.

The screams of the dying…their pain…agonizing…wasn't it?

There was another thump sound; the giant heartbeat noisily pulsed again.

She was but a fragment…

But a fragment of infinity was still infinity, wasn't it?

_We need but a single piece…the world will provide the rest._

_Then she felt pain._

"Am I dead?" Naruto muttered, as he looked around. His voice echoed in the inky black darkness…

"Course not." A voice quipped back. "If you were, you'd be…you know, dead."

He spun around as fast as he could, bringing up his fists as if expecting an attack. He blinked. There was a…

There was a pale blue cat looking back at him, with twin tails swishing around.

The cat's voice was childish and petulant as it stretched its back and purred happily. "I'm Matatabi. What's your name?"

"You're the Nibi?" Naruto muttered back.

"A piece of it, really," Matatabi remarked. "Then again, a piece of water is still water and taking fire from a fire gives you two fires rather than one, right?"

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm … where am I then?"

"Oh, your body went into shock. Nasty thing, just inches away from dying…he stabbed you through your heart to boot."

"Ah...wait, what!?" his eyes widened, "How am I still alive with my heart stabbed!?"

"Really?" the Nibi raised an eyebrow. "You have _three_ different Bijuu's chakras into you brat. You think you're going to die any time soon?"

"So I'm immortal?"

"No, but then again the guy who reduced you like this doesn't know what we know," Matatabi shrugged. "He could cup out your heart with a tea spoon, and you'd still be alive afterwards. You know what chakra is, right?"

"Are you going to give me a chakra lesson, or are you going to tell me how I'm going to leave?"

"How rude," the Nekomata scoffed. "I'm all here, trying to be helpful…"

"Never trust a Bijuu."

"Oh my, thank you," the two-tailed cat rolled her eyes. "Your trust is of the uttermost importance for me. While you're at it, do you want a cup of 'I don't care' or a nice biscuit made with 'You are a worthless stain and a waste of my time, kindly shut your mouth'?"

He gawked at the cat.

"Very well," Matatabi drawled. "Now, if I have your attention…" she spun on herself, her cat-like appearance becoming surprisingly human as she morphed into a perfect replica of Naruto himself.

If not for the cat ears.

He shuddered looking at them twitch.

"Well," the Nekomata muttered. "_Chakra is in every living creature_. That's as easy as it sounds, but the complete definition of it is that…_as long as there's chakra, a creature is alive_," she raised a hand, as if to shush him from interrupting. "Chakra permeates every living cell. When someone is wounded, chakra moves to close the wound. When someone is grievously wounded, more chakra is used and so forth, until there is no more chakra to use. That's the basic principle of Chakra Healing after all: you use chakra from an outside source to enhance the healing properties of your own chakra."

"So…I'm still alive?"

"Oh yes, and into a world of pain as soon as you wake up," the Neko-rendition of him nodded. "You see, you have three Bijuu inside you. Three enormous chakra batteries of which two are tightly sealed into you even beyond your death, and one —myself that is— who is outside."

He paled.

"Ah, don't make a fuss about it," Matatabi rolled her eyes. "It's not like I care…I'm just a fragment. Sure, I'm real and all, but I'd need decades to go back to the power I'd be being 'whole'."

"I'll still have you sealed," Naruto deadpanned. "One was enough."

"I don't care," Matatabi remarked. "Sealed, not sealed…doesn't matter. I'm not my 'whole' self. I don't care…eventually, I'll return to the Earth and from there to my whole self if you don't seal me, or if you do seal me I'll just hang around."

"You are taking this…strangely," Naruto sweat dropped as he nervously chuckled.

"I'm a Nekomata. Technically, we're used in being parasites of other people's skin, until the moment we rip ourselves out of their bodies in a shower of blood and gore," there was a dreamy look on Matatabi's face then. "You have no idea how nice it feels, to shower in blood."

"Now that's more normal," Naruto grumbled under his breath.

A sharp spike of pain erupted through his chest then, forcing him down on one knee as he gripped his jacket. The Matatabi just looked at him with a bright smile, and waved. "See you later!"

He trembled and gagged as he opened his eyes to the cold surface of the Land of Iron's ground. A light sheen of frost and snow covered him, as his skin was a pale blue. He could see tiny plumes of smoke rise from his wounds, as they all slowly closed. He breathed in pain as his torn lungs mended and stitched back together.

Around him, there was silence.

Slowly, the ice cracked as he stood up. He looked around for a moment, and then stilled. The Kubikiribōchō was there, piercing the ground near the destroyed body of Zabuza of the Hidden Mist. The man was dead. Carefully, he trudged forward.

Whoever had killed him had left behind the blade. His hand slowly went for it, clasping around the handle as he pulled it up.

It felt light in his hand.

He gave one last look at Zabuza's torn apart body, and then closed his eyes.

He bowed his head once. "I'm sorry."

_Then_ he left.

The question was…

Where was he going to go?

**Author's notes**

**This chapter took me a while. The discussion between Kage had me stumped for a bit. (Couldn't reveal **_**everything**_**, yet had to reveal quite a bit)**

**If anyone can find out how Orochimaru Knows Things (Mind you, it's a canon element 'utilized' well) you earn a digital cookie.**


	53. Show Me Your True Self, Liar!

Introverted

Chapter Fifty-Three

Sakura looked towards the stone slab in the corner of training ground seven and clenched her fists. In the middle of the night, calmly, she took out the chisel. With a tranquil appearance, holding on a bright smile on her face, she chipped away with controlled hammer strokes the name that she _refused_ to see on that stone.

She knew what she was doing was wrong, and was akin to vandalism, but did she care as long as the name disappeared from that slab? No. She didn't.

Naruto Namikaze. Someone had written his name on the slab —probably by mistake or to make her angry— and she now would correct the error by removing it. Then she would find the bastard who had dared write the name of Naruto on that stone and she would make him suffer by breaking _every_ _single_ _bone_ of his body.

Because Naruto wasn't dead.

He couldn't be dead, because she refused to believe that. She refused to believe he could die. He could not die. He could not be beneath the ground. They hadn't found his body, but yet they had still gone ahead and claimed him dead.

He wasn't dead.

She refused to accept it.

She refused to accept a reality where Naruto was dead and beneath the ground.

Naruto wasn't dead. He wasn't still. Naruto was somewhere, most certainly kept prisoner against his own will, and nobody understood that. They all believed him dead. Burned to a crisp by Amaterasu, burned to a crisp and for no reason whatsoever but as revenge from a petty S-rank shinobi.

A traitorous Uchiha…

The older brother of Sasuke.

She had no tears left to shed, so she simply smiled. She had no screams of anguish left in her throat, no yells, and no angry accusations.

She had nothing left.

She had no one.

She knew she was purposefully ignoring Sai's presence, but it just wasn't the same. Sai was a friend, a good friend, a really good friend even —probably on the same scale of friendship as Ino had been before they had broken off contacts— but he wasn't on the same ladder as Naruto.

He had accepted his death. He had gone to his funeral and held his head low like everyone else —comparatively few people— had.

She hadn't.

That betrayal still stung her.

The funeral…she had refused to participate.

Her sensei's words…she had refused to listen to them.

Naruto was alive somewhere, and as she turned to dust with her right fist the light bit of rock with his name etched upon, she turned to leave.

"You know," a voice called. "I used to do the same," a silver haired shinobi called to her, in the shadows next to a tree. "They reprimanded me thrice before I stopped."

Sakura turned her gaze to the Jounin, narrowing her eyes. "You'll rattle on me?"

The man had a mask covering most of his face —his name was Kakashi, wasn't he the sensei of Sasuke?

"No," the Jounin shook his head. "Want to talk about it?"

He was flipping through the pages of _Icha-Icha Consoling The Mournful Widow_ and had a general bored look in his eyes that made her frown. Did he really expect her to open up to someone she barely knew?

"Why should I bother?"

"Because I will rattle on you otherwise?"

She scoffed and made a 'tsk' sound. She couldn't poison him. She supposed someone would miss him.

"Please, don't look at me as if you're planning my murder," Kakashi drawled out.

"All right," she sweetly remarked with a bright smile and her eyes half-closed. "Then I won't look at you. _Period_."

"You want to know something funny?" Kakashi retorted. "I think you should actually hope he is dead."

Sakura's eyes smouldered with fury as she flung at the man a kunai as fast as she could. The Jounin merely deflected it with the hard cover of his book, and then commented.

"Think about it. If he isn't dead, why hasn't he come back?"

"He might be a prisoner! Or he might be wounded!" Sakura barked back, angrily stomping on the ground as she walked forward towards the Jounin.

"You mean the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi? The one who has complete control over his Bijuu?" Kakashi snorted. "Who are you trying to convince…me, or yourself?"

"Naruto wouldn't betray Konoha," Sakura murmured, her eyes glazing over. "He just wouldn't."

"Whatever makes you sleep at night," Kakashi remarked. "As long as it keeps you away from the monument, anything's fine."

Sakura clenched her fists, how dared he come here in the middle of the night and snipe at her? Didn't he have better things to do, like using the porn he had in his hands?

"I don't know if you understand it yet, but we are in the middle of a crisis," Kakashi deadpanned. "This is a veritable cold war, where the only wildcard left is whether Naruto is alive or not. Konoha is in the crosshair of enough countries to make the future of it being nothing more than a wasteland a reality. Kumogakure, Kirigakure, Iwagakure…heck, even Sunagakure might all attack or form alliances to destroy us. The only reason they don't is because they _also_ hate one another. All that it takes is a simple spark…and then this arming up of forces will be unleashed."

Kakashi's eyes turned narrow. "Do you have any idea what it means to graduate at six from the Academy, after a single year devoted to how to prime explosive tags and throw kunai? Do you know what it means to have to walk up to an enemy outpost with a ball of rubber filled with explosives, and hope they don't kill you because you're a kid?"

He took a step forward, just as Sakura paled and took one back. "Do you know what it means, to watch your friends, your comrades, your family die one after the other in the middle of war? Do you know the meaning of suffering behind a trench carved out by the blood of your teammates, trying to hold the line because reinforcements will come at dawn, only to realize there are no reinforcements, and you're alone against dozens?"

His only visible eye shone with fury. "You have no idea of what war is, kid," he snarled. "And I hoped you would never have to know."

Kakashi then turned, and left in silence.

Sakura fell down on her knees, trembling like a leaf quaked by the wind…and there she cried.

Because one part of her mind was whispering to her that if Naruto had betrayed Konoha…

She had to kill him.

Betrayers had to die. It was the law.

And the law was _everything_.

Sasuke grumbled.

He had no idea why Kiba insisted on it. He and _Shiro_ weren't going to fight him and Akamaru. The three-legged dog had grown to be as tall as his stomach —considering it bumped its head against it quite a few times. He didn't much care that he was acting like a recluse, or that 'the Duckbutt Uchiha I knew would accept'. He simply wouldn't fight.

He could hear Ami's form pressed against his side, but he ignored that too. Whether the girl had grown up and matured or not, he didn't even want to find out. He was actually glad Shiro's head was resting on his lap barking happily. One of the few key notes with being blind and unable to re-enter the shinobi service was that, in the end, he had a lot of time to spend in peace.

"Come on, fight me!" Kiba snarled.

"No," Sasuke remarked. "Dog breath."

"Why you—"

"That's enough Kiba," Ami said, "Leave Sasuke-kun alone."

"But Ami!" Kiba whined.

"No buts! Really, ganging like that on a blind person, have you no shame?"

"My sister said to kick his ass whenever he was moping, and what better way than spar with him?"

Akamaru yipped in agreement. Shiro just kept on barking happily, as Sasuke gently scratched behind his dog's ear.

"I'm not moping dog breath. I'm enjoying the sun."

"Pathetic," Kiba muttered. "Really? Where did the sour puss 'I have a certain man to kill' Uchiha go?"

"He died with his eyes," Sasuke retorted hotly. "And he'll stay dead."

Silence descended in the small corner of the Inuzuka's compound main house, as Sasuke carefully brought his face upwards to 'stare' at the sky, even without eyes. "I'm fine like this."

"Ehi," Ami suddenly said coyly. "What about restarting the clan? You can do that even without eyes, right?"

"No," Sasuke's single word froze both Kiba and Ami. "That dream died together with my revenge. I'll be the last Uchiha…and with that, I'll have my final revenge on my brother. I'll not condemn someone else to carry on my grudge, or to live in hatred of what could have been if he hadn't killed our clan."

"S-Sasuke-kun…" Ami murmured. "But…"

"Ohi, idiot!" Kiba barked. "What does your revenge have to do with finding a girlfriend and rutting like crazy?!"

"KIBA!" Ami screeched. "Gross! That's…that's really crass too!"

"What!? Just telling the truth: an idiot's an idiot no matter what!"

"And that's why you don't have a girlfriend, dog-breath? Or is it the flea powder?" Sasuke shot back.

"I'll let you know I have plenty! Like…a dozen!"

"All around Konoha?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, his eyes closed shut.

He doubted he had anyone other than his hand, but then again one could never know. Maybe Kiba had finally given in to his basic instincts and gone the deep end of bestiality.

"Is that why you have bitches in heat following you around?" Sasuke asked once more.

"Y-Wait, no!" Kiba yelled back. "I'm not fucking with—"

"Stop it!" Ami shrieked, making Sasuke wince. "Really! Kiba, look what you've done! Sasuke-kun's turning crasser by the second because of you! Ah…I knew it! I'll have to check on him as much as possible to avoid this from getting worse!"

"No, really," Sasuke drawled. "I'm fine."

"Who's fine?" a female voice said then, as Sasuke's ears twitched.

"Hana-san," Sasuke said politely. "Is it true that Kiba ruts with dogs? He seems pretty proud of it."

Ami watched Hana's smile falter for a bit, before her eyes morphed to slits as she growled towards Kiba. The Inuzuka boy brought up his hands in defence.

"That's not true Hana-nee! It's not—argh! Ah! It hurts! Stop it! Damn it!"

A squirt bottle filled with pepper spray soon appeared from Hana's sleeve, which then ended up half-emptied on the boy's coat.

Sasuke's nose twitched, and his wasn't trained as much as those of the Inuzuka.

"Really, what did I do to be saddled with you?"

"Just because mom's off to the border doesn't mean you can do this, you bitch!" Kiba yelled as he thoroughly scrubbed his nose with tears coming down his red and swollen face. "You're not the Top Dog!"

"I'm the Alpha Bitch around here you bastard, you got that!?" Hana yelled right back, stomping a foot against Kiba's back and sending him sprawling on the ground with Akamaru whining about it.

Shiro just ignored everything, like his master did too.

Ami had to admit…it was somewhat funny watching Sasuke and his dog act precisely the same.

There was a moment of absolute silence then, as if no one had anything remotely interesting to say. It lasted a mere second, and then it was gone as Ami softly whispered. "Tomorrow…we're off on patrol near Kiri, right?"

"Yeah," Kiba snarled. "To think I won't see the Duckbutt for a month or two…fills my heart with joy."

"Likewise, Dog-Breath," Sasuke retorted hotly. "Not hearing your incessant yapping will do wonders to my brain cells...I begin to fear your stupidity is contagious."

"Now, now children," Hana interrupted. "Play nice and Kiba will get the nice red ball that goes squeak…"

"Is there a look of joy on the mutt's face?" Sasuke asked then. "Because I'm clearly imagining him with sparkling eyes over that red ball."

"You know Duckbutt," Kiba growled. "I preferred you when your sense of humour was non-existent."

"Some people can improve," Sasuke deadpanned. "For others there's still the Squirt Bottle I suppose."

"Grrr…."

Sasuke would never admit it to himself, or to the people around him…

_But it felt good to be there_.

Silence descended in the clearing after a few seconds, as his nose and ears twitched. Someone else had just arrived, and whoever it was, it smelled of a light sheen of antiseptic and alcohol —the industrial variant, for hospitals.

"Sakura?" Ami suddenly said.

"Sasuke," Sakura's voice came firm and cold. "I want to know one thing."

"Uh?" Kiba's perplexed voice cut through.

"How do I _kill_ your brother?"

Sasuke's heart skipped a beat in that instant, as his fist naturally clenched.

Maybe…maybe he could have his revenge all the same?

Naruto closed his eyelids for an instant.

The stench of burned corpses reached his nostrils. The screams of the wounded echoed in his ears. He opened his eyes, staring at the population of a small and remote village torn apart, human after human, by a small group of Kumogakure shinobi. They moved not to actually slaughter them all, but to scare them into submission.

A few farmers were beaten; another couple had burns on their faces or hands. Raiton Techniques tore the simple huts of the civilians apart with relative ease, as the Jounin guiding the operation was a scar-filled bulky man in his fifties. He was laughing out hard as he heard the screams of fright of the civilians, and the smirk on his face told it all.

The man _chose_ to scare them, not to kill them. Kumogakure probably needed the village, or its supplies.

Naruto unclasped the Butcher's Cleaver, and then bent his legs forward to thrust his entire body onward, as a light sheen of chakra covered his frame.

He spun as he twisted the giant blade, letting the screams soon dwindle to a shocked halt as he cleaved in half the leading shinobi of the assaulting force.

Blood sprayed in the air in a thin mist, as the lower part of the Kumogakure ninja took a few hesitant steps, twitched, and then fell down on the ground as its upper side screamed in pain for but a moment, before dying and landing with a sick 'thud' on the dirt a few meters away.

He capitalized on the moment. A Bijudama emerged from his mouth, piercing through the stomach of a Kunoichi and sending her to twist in mid-air as her innards _viciously exploded outwards_. She collapsed like an empty hand puppet, her Chuunin vest of no use.

By the second death, the rest of the Kumogakure troops awoke from their shock and dispersed. Running away from him, they didn't realize one tiny detail.

_He wasn't alone._

The Yoroi Toshi of his Kage Bunshin thrust itself forward surrounded by wind chakra, stabbing through the heart or the stomach the retreating men and women, whose gaze widened as individuals covered in cloaks and masks blocked their way out.

A particularly quick Chuunin managed all the same to evade the lethal blow, his body flexing to the side and thrusting his own fist back at the Kage Bunshin, dispelling it with a single hit.

The problem was that now, the shinobi in question was alone against a dozen.

The villagers watched with a mixture of hope and sick fascination as their saviour slammed repeatedly onto the ground the remaining enemy, the crunching noise of bones breaking and soft tissue splattering on the ground making them grimace or avert their gaze from the gory scene.

"T-Thank you, shinobi-san," an elderly man murmured walking forward. He extended his hand, and Naruto merely looked back at him with his piercing blue gaze through his mask. "We are in your debt."

"Is this the right direction for the Land of Snow?" he asked back softly, pointing towards his destination.

"Ah, most certainly," the old man nodded quickly. "Are you wishing to join Shimogakure?" there was a grimace that settled on the elder's face. "It is a pity the Daimyo renounced to the shinobi village here, in the land of Hot Springs…there's no army to protect us either from the attacks…"

Naruto's ears twitched.

"Tell me," he said slowly. "Any news from the world?"

"The great Countries," the old man snorted as he slowly sat down on the ground with his legs crossed, "They're expanding. That's what they all say. These guys," he gestured to the corpses, "They came here for supplies. The village elder refused —winter's coming, and our supplies are low— and so they decided to 'even the score'."

Bitterly, the man added. "A village with no villagers doesn't need food, and anyway the Daimyo…he doesn't care. Yugakure is nothing more than a glorified hot spring village now, and samurai are useless against shinobi!" the old man growled as his voice grew heated.

Naruto merely looked in the direction he had to go, and then nodded back to the old man.

"Thank you," Kubikiribōchō sailed then in an arc, and the old man's head flew in the air for a moment before rolling down on the ground, blood splattering on the blade.

The rest of the villagers did not even have the time to scream.

In the silent and scorched village, Naruto merely began to look for food with his clones. All of them were eerily quiet as they worked in looting the corpses of the Kumo shinobi, the villagers' houses and the warehouse, which the ninja had left alone.

No doubt, another group would come around to look for the fate of the first one. Supplies weren't that difficult to bring around. All it took was one shinobi with a hefty scroll carrying the food sealed within, while another acted as a decoy.

The group's food scroll was soon in his hands, and as he snorted towards the corpse of their Jounin, he grimaced.

"You shouldn't have killed the entire village," he began quietly. "Forcing me to battle you lot…that's stupid. You know what happens when you do something stupid? You pay for it. You shouldn't have."

The reality was that, as a missing-nin, he was the enemy of everyone. As a Jinchuuriki missing-nin, he was a threat to all of the nations combined. Merely with the Kage Bunshin, he knew he had enough power to level a nation —and that was without using the Bijudama.

He _was_ powerful, but the problem was to which depths he'd go in order to win. Was destroying half a country worth killing a single shinobi? Was killing an entire village worth using the Kage Bunshin?

As long as he merely hefted Kubikiribōchō, he was simply a lucky guy with a big sword —one a Kiri shinobi would recognize anywhere, but still way better than his trademarked Yoroi Toshi.

The moment he used the Kage Bunshin, the moment he used a Bijudama and the precise instant he left eyewitnesses, the enemy countries would _know_ where he was.

He couldn't trust Konohagakure. He had been afraid of the consequences of his betrayal and so he had left. With what he had on his person, he wouldn't have gone far anyway, so as a shinobi he had _stolen_.

As a shinobi, he had endured.

As a shinobi, he had survived. He closed his eyes, letting the wind ruffle his hair, and then he trudged on.

He knew very little about the world or its political situation, but he knew that if he wanted to truly be at ease, he'd need to go somewhere war would not touch.

The land of Frost was nothing more than a barren extension of ice and snowflakes, where the Daimyo merely understood his place and granted passage to Kumogakure shinobi on his land in exchange for leaving the country in peace. They had a shinobi village, which merely acted as a sort of guard for the population, and that was it.

No Bijuus, no Jinchuuriki, nothing worth remembering in its history. The person in charge was a certain Doto Kazahana, while the princess of the land of Snow was a certain Koyuki Kazahana, his niece. The last Bingo Book entry he had grabbed from the corpse of a Kumogakure shinobi showed him that there were no renowned entries in their missing-nin category, which made it all the better.

He'd live in a nice and comfortable ice hut.

Naruto clicked his tongue against his teeth a moment later. Whom was he kidding? He was following some sort of basic instinct to go north, but he couldn't understand _why_. Something soothing was calling for him, and like a moth to the flame, he was answering the call.

He knew it felt like a trap, it smelled like a trap and it probably was a trap, but he still decided to go that way. The Matatabi was silent. Even if 'free' to roam, the two-tailed cat remained true to his word and stayed silent in a corner of his mind.

It was completely different from the giant Bijuu who had screamed against remaining a prisoner. He gave one last fleeting glance at the corpses strewn on the ground, and then disappeared in a flicker.

He had a long way to go yet.

A white Zetsu slowly appeared from the ground, in the middle of the village. It looked around for a single moment, making sure there really was no one left, and then smiled. He made a simple gesture of his right hand, and ten more Zetsu appeared from the ground.

The white creatures ate the Kumogakure's shinobi corpses, and as the Zetsu morphed, taking in their appearances, the 'leader' of the group remarked.

"How horrible! A Kirigakure shinobi killing people in the land of Hot Water…one of the swordsmen of the mist no less!"

"We must warn the Raikage," another acquiesced. "The Demon of the Hidden Mist isn't dead as they wanted us to believe."

Yet all of them were _smiling_ with the same creepy smile as they said that.

Orochimaru glanced over to where Itachi was bringing his hands up to the fire to warm them. The Uchiha still covered himself in the Akatsuki cloak, and his teeth chattered from the cold. They were deep into the passage for the Land of Frost, and as the snake sannin hummed peacefully, Itachi commented.

"Aren't you supposed to be cold blooded?"

"Aren't you even going to try to take my head?" he remarked.

"If you didn't have the sharingan, I would already have tried," Itachi muttered with his gaze unflinching as he offered a roast gecko on a stick to the snake sannin.

"I hope my little Hebi-chan is all right," Orochimaru lamented as he accepted the Gecko and then flung it behind him. A few meters in the air, the Gecko exploded in tiny pieces of burnt flesh. "I mean, it shouldn't be too difficult, but you never know with them, right?"

Itachi said nothing, but merely narrowed his eyes to slits.

"Oh come on Itachi-kun, enjoy life a bit more," Orochimaru chuckled. "What little you still have left, that is."

"If only the roles were reversed…"

"Ah, you would undoubtedly kill me without a fault, that much I know," Orochimaru nodded. "But I am kind-hearted, deep down, and I simply cannot tolerate seeing you in such conditions. How fortuitous that you told me in time of your sickness, Itachi! Why, if you hadn't, I would have tried to get your body while in the Akatsuki such was my greed!"

"The way you say that while smiling is extremely creepy, Orochimaru," Itachi muttered back.

"Doesn't this bring back our time together as a team, Itachi? The two missing-ninjas from Konoha, guarding each other shoulder to shoulder as they fight against the unjust system of the world through senseless slaughter and bounty hunting! Can you smell the irony from here?"

"I can't even smell the rotting stench of the body you're inside of," the Uchiha said. "You expect me to smell something that doesn't exist in the first place?"

"Now, I find offense to that! And to think _we_ went great lengths to ensure cooperation of Zetsu-kun!"

"Please, avoid using the Kun suffix…period."

A strong gust of wind flapped their cloaks.

"Shishui's eye is truly special indeed," Orochimaru quipped, "Pitiful that it can no longer be used." Itachi bit his lips.

"Then again, maybe in a few years your brother will have a brat or two, and then uncle Itachi might just appear as a ghost!" the snake sannin laughed at that. "Kukuku…or maybe Orochi-Jiji might just make his appearance."

"That image is so wrong, I will need bleach for my brain now," Itachi mumbled. "Why are you so sure he will pass by here?"

"Because you aren't thinking logically Itachi," Orochimaru quipped. "And then again, I have Zetsu trailing him…how difficult can it be to anticipate his travel vector?"

"Why not kidnap him in his sleep?"

"Ah, Itachi, Itachi, Itachi," Orochimaru made a tsk sound as he slowly slumped his shoulders, his eyes half-closed. "You never were one for the subtle and gentle approach. Not everything is solvable with meaningless slaughter! Come on think! We kidnap him and he'll try to run away. We talk to him and you'll see that he will follow us without an inkling of doubt!"

Itachi said nothing else, and Orochimaru merely lapsed in silence after that.

"You know what the fun thing is, about giving time schedules to imbeciles?" Orochimaru remarked suddenly, standing up. "It is that when then you strike earlier…they're too stupid to understand you were playing with them."

He disappeared in a flicker with Itachi soon following him. There, in the middle of the blizzard, a figure walked forward with steam surrounding his person.

Naruto was not enjoying the cold. He was a shinobi, he could endure the cold, but he didn't like it at all. He was more at ease in the warmth of the sun, not in the middle of a freezing blizzard lost somewhere where the sun didn't shine and seemed to have been forgotten by the gods.

Yet the call was ever so alluring. He knew it was supposed to be closer still, somewhere…

He slammed his body on the ground just as a blade of wind sliced above him

Naruto rolled out of an incoming fist, that tore apart the ground he had stood on but a second before. His eyes widened in surprise when they landed on Orochimaru, who was brightly smiling in his Akatsuki cloak.

"Oh! Naruto-kun! It has been a while, hasn't it?"

Naruto swallowed. Orochimaru of the Sannin stood in front of him, his face a mixture of crazy and scared.

"Is that your idea of subtle approach?" Itachi remarked calmly, appearing right next to him.

Naruto snapped his eyes from one shinobi to the other, and then felt his throat parched. "H-How?"

"The ground whispered to me," Orochimaru shrugged, "Who was I to remain deaf to its call? Very well, Naruto Namikaze…let me ask you this," he strode forward calmly, both of his hands forwards as if to appear harmless.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and flexed his legs, ready to run for his life.

"You have potential and power," Orochimaru began, "But you lack a purpose, do you not? You find yourself devoid of a master's whip and an objective in life now. You escaped, out of fear or maybe out of a well thought out decision, and everyone else believes you dead or is smart enough to make sure you are 'thought' dead." The snake sannin chuckled. "The problem is you have nowhere to go and no one to trust. You'll go around for a while looking for a place to belong, but in the end…they will all fail you," the golden eyes settled warmly on him.

"And then, one day, you will realize that your power makes you right. It doesn't matter what laws say. It doesn't matter what other people say. It doesn't matter what a Kage says, or what a Daimyo says…because you have the power, and they don't. Make a hand seal, and tear down a country. Make two, and destroy a nation. Make three…and the world will burn," the snake sannin clenched his right fist in front of the boy.

"What I am trying to say is that everyone who has power, in the end, begins to think of an objective to complete. Why go through life without something to look forward to, after all? Some wish to make a family, watch their children grow and then die of old age. Others wish for complete world domination, for changing the system, the world…some want revenge, sweet, sweet revenge…" his voice trailed off.

"Yet, in the end, a purpose can't be something shoddy like 'I'll protect my teammates' or 'I want to make friends' or 'I'll be Hokage'."

Naruto snarled as he felt a building pressure in the back of his head.

"Oh? What is this…can't remember, can you?" Orochimaru smiled. "You know, I was sure of it the moment I saw you, quiet and silent, that Danzo would place his hands on you. He always was interested in the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki after all…I just had to place a trap for him, one he could not avoid," he chuckled. "I did plan on killing you before leaving Konoha…I told you that already, didn't I?"

Naruto winced as he felt pain stab through his entire body.

"I decided to weaken your seal instead, let it deteriorate. I was pretty sure Danzo would step in with his Fuinjutsu knowledge, but the old crone didn't rise to the bait and the seal was left to rot a bit at a time," the snake sannin shrugged. "I made you into a ticking bomb, and yet…you went way beyond my expectations."

"I'm not a bomb," Naruto hissed.

"No? Then tell me, Naruto Uzumaki, the boy whose very own surname was stripped away from him, the one whose parents were hidden from, whose identity as Jinchuuriki kept silent…who was hated, scorned, blamed for things beyond his control…"

The wind died down around them.

"If you're not a tool of Konoha…if you're not a faithful shinobi of Konoha…if you don't have teammates to protect or a dream…what are you?"

Naruto swallowed and looked to the floor. His clenched fist felt warm, as he realized blood was dripping from his palms where his nails had dug in.

"You want to know the answer, Naruto?" Orochimaru smiled lightly. "You…"

The voice trailed off for an instant.

"Are me."

"That's not true!" he hotly retorted. His eyes shone with fury, yet the nagging sensation of…of him being…no, he could not be right! He refused to believe in that!

"No!?" Orochimaru laughed at that. "What am I, exactly? A powerful traitorous shinobi from Konoha? I was born an orphan, apprenticed under the Sandaime who became like a father to me. My teammates were a bunch of wrecks, one worse than the other," the snake sannin mumbled. "One left for his voyages, the other lost hope after the death of her family and love…yet I remained, loyal," Naruto hadn't realized it till then, but Orochimaru was now literally in front of him, speaking smoothly and slowly.

He couldn't jump away however, because just looking into the man's eyes was…hypnotic, to say the least.

"I remained in Konoha, loyal; waiting…waiting for my chance at becoming Hokage, waiting for my chance to prove my power, the power of my intelligence, was the best Konoha could hope for to defend from its enemies."

Orochimaru exhaled slowly.

"Yet in the end, your father was chosen. The Sandaime said it was because he feared for what I would do with the power, but the true reason was another…a darker one, a deeper one," his eyes shone. "You can't control a smart person. You need dumb bastards in power, or how else can you move their strings? With intelligence comes responsibility. With intelligence, comes the knowledge that what you do, how you do it, for what reason you do it…it bears a weight, and with the weight the puppet becomes too heavy to move."

Naruto took a step backwards then.

"You were guided," Orochimaru said taking a step forward. "Step after step towards a goal," he smiled. "A prophecy foretold that Jiraiya's apprentice would usher forth an age of peace…or one of complete destruction," both of his hands shot forth then, grasping onto Naruto's shoulders and pinning him in place.

"The man told the Sandaime, and the Sandaime knew he had to act. He couldn't risk you becoming a tool of destruction, and so he kept you weak. He kept you under control. He gave you nothing more than scraps from the table…the table that was your legacy," Orochimaru smiled. "I can give you the entire feast, Naruto Uzumaki. I can guide you, train you, and make you stronger than ever before. I can teach you things and techniques the likes of which you have never seen."

Slowly, Orochimaru's head moved to whisper at Naruto's ear.

"I will not command you, Naruto. I will not ask for your devotion or your blind obeisance…I will not force you, lie to you, or backstab you…I don't need to, because you already know, deep within your heart, that you cannot trust me, you cannot trust anyone…"

Orochimaru's smile became warm, as if it belonged on the face of a father proud for his son's accomplishments.

"You can only trust in yourself and your own beliefs, your own ideals. Am I right, Naruto?"

"What if you are?" Naruto croaked. "W-What if I don't want to follow you?"

"Then we will leave." Orochimaru replied, letting go of the boy's shoulders. "Mind you, I'm sure everyone has a moment where they desire to be left in peace, alone, to think about what they want to do with their lives. It is normal. I did the same, but I was far more productive as I built a network of spies all around the elemental countries at the same time as I went on my thoughtful thinking spree," the sannin held his smile up for a moment more. "Then again…I can't expect you to be as smart as me now, can I?"

"You'd just let me go?" Naruto asked then incredulously.

"Yes," Orochimaru acquiesced. "I don't really need you for my plans, Naruto. Whether you like it or not, you are merely a footnote in my master plan. Sure, you can become a wrench to my cogs, but that's only if you truly start being a bother…and you can't become a bother, because your very own presence would help me."

"So what is your plan then?" he asked back, his eyes slightly narrowing as Orochimaru turned, giving him the shoulders.

"My plan…it's funny, really," Orochimaru chuckled. "At first I thought that, if everyone was devoid of chakra, then the shinobi system would collapse. Then I realized it would simply mean that the era of samurai would come back. I followed Nagato's plan —you don't know him, do you?" he asked, looking at Naruto's perplexed face. "Never mind, I followed his for a while…his own is the creation of a super Bijuu-powered weapon of mass destruction, that would make war a no win scenario for everyone…but then I thought: what about scuffles? What about a single shinobi sent to assassinate another? Would you kill millions to get to one avenger?"

He chuckled. "Of course you wouldn't. You'd send two, then they'd send three, and then they would…"

Naruto's eyes snapped shut. When he opened them again, they were clear and cold.

"You spoke with a Bijuu."

Orochimaru's smile widened beyond proportions as he began to clap slowly.

"Very, _very_ good," he said. "You surprise me time and time again with your ability to state the obvious, Naruto Uzumaki."

His golden eyes narrowed. "Now that you know, let me ask…why did you refuse their suggestion? What chains and shackles tie you yet to this miserable world? What possible reason would you have, you who can now slaughter innocents without even batting an eyelid?"

"It's…It's not right to kill people," the weak retort stopped Orochimaru on the spot.

"What?"

It was rare for the snake sannin to be speechless, but in this case, he had to.

"I understand…killing for reasons," Naruto muttered. "But if we kill only for the sake of killing, doesn't that make us monsters?"

"You killed children in a village."

"I was ordered to; the blood stains the hands of the Hokage and the one who issued the order, not on mine," he retorted crisply.

"You held no mercy for the villagers attacked by Kumo shinobi."

"They saw my special techniques, I had no choice. They shouldn't have seen them."

"Are you really shifting each and every single blameful action you have committed upon others?" Orochimaru whispered, "Are you really that broken, that you cannot realize your own faults?"

"I'm not broken," Naruto snarled. "I did what I had to do!" he screamed then, stomping his foot on the ground as it cracked. "_I FOLLOWED ORDERS! I OBEYED! I BECAME THE TOOL KONOHA WANTED!_ The only times I acted as myself, I made mistakes. The last one just sent me here! Look at me! Do you think I'm happy with this!? It's cold out here…it's cold and there's no hope for me to return to…"

"Yes," Orochimaru nodded. "There is no hope."

His right hand extended like a whip, grasping firmly at Naruto's neck and squeezing as it retracted back, bringing the boy closer to his face.

Holding him up, Orochimaru snarled then.

"These were my words as well, a long time ago," Orochimaru smiled. "You can never be at fault for atrocities others made you commit, right?"

"Gah…argh…" breathing was difficult, as the hand squeezed tightly against Naruto's throat. "I followed orders, my superior is to blame," Orochimaru mocked. "But the dead remain dead all the same," he hissed.

"We will be heading somewhere special," he said then, dropping the boy on the ground. "If your claim is as such, then I want to see it. I want to see the truth in your hypocrisy," his cloak flapped as he turned to look towards Itachi.

"Itachi, inform Nagato that we are leaving his organization," he unclasped the Akatsuki cloak and removed the ring from his finger. "The Truth is something hard to swallow sometimes," he remarked dryly towards Naruto, "Which is why I will force feed it to you."

"You said I didn't have to follow you," Naruto coughed out, holding at his throat.

"Do you truly think you can go somewhere else?" Orochimaru retorted. "Sure, we can battle, and sure, you might be able to make more than enough chaos to get away from me…but I will keep on following you, and you'll have to keep on running. Or you can just follow me for a bit, find out the truth your heart desires and finally, if Kami wills it, understand that in the end _the_ truth and _your own_ truth are completely different things."

"Why the effort with me?"

"Because, my dear Naruto," Orochimaru cooed. "I see in you what Kushina Uzumaki never had: Minato Namikaze's cunningness."

The smile grew feral. "And simply because of that, I _must_ guide you on the correct path."

Then his smile dropped, and with a serious voice added. "Do not worry. The truth I will let you see is impartial and completely lacks manipulation. The Waterfall of Truth is one of the hidden treasures of Kumogakure, located on a floating island to the North of here. Once you stand in front of it, the truth will become manifest. It might be ugly, or who knows…it might prove you right, but in the end it will simply _be_ the truth."

Orochimaru's neck elongated as it stilled to a halt mere inches from Naruto's face.

"Good or evil, I wonder…is there any truth that lies in the middle of Grey?"

Naruto didn't answer, but slowly stood up and nodded. He knew how to choose his battles and this one…this was one he didn't even think for an instant he could win. Still, he had to know.

"How? How did you find me?"

"I have never stopped watching over you, Naruto," Orochimaru remarked with a small smile. In that moment, a perfectly spherical piece of glass emerged from his robes. "Really, I stole this from Sarutobi-sensei the day I left Konoha."

He chuckled. "And nobody even realized it was missing all this time."

Orochimaru hummed then. "How stupid can someone be, to leave a perfectly functional peeping sphere around their office? These things have won _wars_ in the past."

The sphere disappeared into another one of the snake sannin's sleeves. "And let me tell you, Naruto," Orochimaru added carefully, "That trying to steal it will result in great body harm for yourself," he nodded sagely as he said that. "You want one? Find yourself another."

"All…right?"

"Can we go, now?" Itachi asked quietly, ignored up to that moment.

"Of course Itachi-kun! Here I was, forgetting about the guy who tries to kill me to no avail!" Naruto sweat dropped looking towards Itachi, who just stared back at him.

"See? I told you he'd follow us!" Orochimaru added whistling a tune.

"Is he always…"

"This is a good day," Itachi replied. "On his bad ones, he makes an active effort to look mad."

Naruto said nothing else.

And so…they trudged on.

**Author's notes**

**Nagato's a threat…he'll come around.**

**The answer to Orochi's spying network?**

**The damn crystal ball in the Hokage's office, the one 'canon' has gladly ignored since then. **

…

**Plus the army of White Zetsu who can morph to become whatever shinobi they wish to become and travel through the ground.**

**Really, I'd think someone would use those meatbags for something more than a conveniently disposable army, considering their infiltration qualities.**


	54. Make Your Choice, Saviour or Destroyer!

Introverted

Chapter Fifty-Four

Orochimaru of the Sannin was tone deaf.

Although that statement still did not describe properly how bad of a singer he was, Naruto supposed that it would have to do for the situation at hand. He never knew how one could 'supposedly' be a hostage and at the same time _not_, but apparently, he fitted the bill _perfectly_.

He wasn't tied. If he wanted, he could run away with ease. The problem of course would be being captured right back again by the two S-ranked shinobi who were currently escorting him —for lack of a better term— towards some place that was supposed to tell him the truth.

Naruto grumbled as he watched the snow slowly stop, the closer they went to the sea. They had completely ignored the cities and the villages of the Land of Frost, avoiding their few patrols and travellers. Leaving no trace of their passage, they made their way to the coast.

"What exactly are you hoping to achieve?" he asked one night, eying the Snake Sannin.

"Oh, I'm glad you asked," Orochimaru remarked carefully. "I plan on exterminating every single living being in the entire world," he smiled brightly, as if he had just told a child he was going to an amusement park or somewhere fun.

Naruto shuddered.

He didn't dare to ask again.

The trip gratefully ended after a few days of terse silence from Itachi and horrible singing from Orochimaru, as they finally reached the border of the Land of Frost with the sea.

The waves hurling against the sandy beach, covered in a light sheen of ice, were a majestic spectacle to behold. Their clear azure colours refracted the light of the sun and the magnificent pure blue of the sky, which held no clouds no matter how far Naruto looked for them.

Icebergs floated harmlessly further away near the horizon, and as Orochimaru opened up a scroll with quick movements of his long fingers, he began to hum contently to himself.

The call, if such a thing he could call the strange pulling sensation that seemed to grip at his very being, was enticing and rhythmic, like the lullaby of a nursery song.

He couldn't place it among the few songs he had ever heard, but whatever it was, it felt catchy.

"Judging by my calculations," Orochimaru spoke then calmly, "The island should be…in that direction," he thrust his arm forward, pointing between two icebergs. "We just need to make a trip of a few miles."

"Are we going to swim?" Naruto asked, his gaze going from the clearly cold water to the far off distance.

"If you enjoy that sort of thing then yes, by all means do so. I will take a better mean of transport," the snake sannin then bit his thumb, summoning forth a giant blue-skinned snake with picturesque depictions on its scales of the underwater floor. The snake could easily be as tall as a three floors building, at least judging by Naruto's eye.

"This here is Croat, Croat? Say hello to Naruto-kun."

"Hello," the giant snake replied with a soft voice, barely a whisper. Orochimaru rolled his golden eyes.

"He is incredibly shy with strangers, but he has the most powerful poison of the entire summoning contract…and is also one of the few means of transportation above water that I know of," with a hop, he jumped on the back of the snake.

"Hello?" Naruto replied nervously, eying the gigantic snake from head to tail with worry.

"All aboard the snake train now," the Sannin remarked. "We can't miss our target after all."

Then, Orochimaru flexed his legs as if expecting to _surf_ atop the head of Croat.

Itachi too, who was generally always at ease, held himself as if he was about to be flying away at any moment. Naruto wasn't stupid. He kneeled and held himself tightly with his hands too to the skin of the summoned animal, letting his chakra stick him to the surface.

The next few minutes proved him correct, as the snake nearly soared through the water with the same speed a _Maito Gai_ would.

Leaving behind a trail in the water, the wind slapping strongly on their faces, the snake's speed was beyond doubt inhuman. They passed by the middle of the two icebergs, heading towards the deepest waters and the horizon.

Orochimaru spoke no words, or if he did, the wind dispersed them.

Naruto's eyes peered through the salty air forward, his gaze slowly attracted to an island that was coming closer and closer. It looked as if two small hills had emerged from the seabed, and with time vegetation had covered them.

"There is a barrier, close by," Orochimaru's neck had extended to reach his ear.

"Gah!" Naruto exclaimed, looking at the face of the sannin mere inches in front of him. "What the hell!"

"Calm yourself," Orochimaru's tone was pissed now. "This is nothing to be surprised about," the golden eyes of the snake sannin peered through his own, before a smile blossomed on his lips. "We are going to keep the pressure off your back Naruto-kun, so while we do that, you need to head for the Waterfall of Truth. It's right at the centre of the island, you can't miss it."

Orochimaru licked his lips. "Try to act as quietly as you can, all right?"

His neck snapped back, returning to his body at the head of the snake. Naruto closed his eyes and grimaced.

The snake suddenly curled in the water, before snapping up and jumping out of the water. It sailed through the air with its fangs bared, before landing its jaws against the…

The neck of the island?

Naruto jumped out of instinct, his hands grabbing on the branch of a tree on the biggest 'hill' of the thing just as both Orochimaru and Itachi dashed ahead in the direction of the thing's 'head'.

He widened his eyes as realization dawned on him that the thing was not a simple volcanic island created when an underwater volcano erupted. It was an old and _still living_ giant tortoise. The ground trembled as screams echoed from the mouth of the turtle, while explosions and the noises of techniques echoed further away from his position.

Naruto laid low on the ground, closing his eyes and letting the noises filter through as he waited for his moment. He felt the ground tremble, heard the frantic calls of shinobi through their radios…

"Call reinforcements! There are two S-rank! We have to—"

"We must evacuate—"

"Warn Raikage-sama!"

He charged then, his _soul_ snarling at him, longing for something that was deeper and deeper into the forest on the back of the living beast. The trees parted to reveal a meadow, where water was gushing down from a waterfall that held no visible point of 'recharge'.

His heart felt as if daggers were piercing through it, his stomach burned and his breathing grew ragged as he took another step forth.

Naruto gagged. He gasped and coughed, his flesh pulsing and trembling as he could swear he could hear the blood rushing from his ears. The waters of the waterfall began to boil.

He fell down on one knee. He should have used the opportunity to run away, not to follow through with Orochimaru's orders. Now, what else was there to do but get through it?

Naruto wobbled back up, grounding his teeth and snarling. He wasn't some weak willed bastard who'd tremble and die from some sort of unknown sickness. He was Naruto Uzumaki, and he was _destined for greatness_.

"Those are bold words," a tight voice spoke crisply, as a figure emerged from the waters of the waterfall.

Spiked blond hair, a long white trench coat, a necklace of beads…holding on to a staff with…a sword strapped to…

His mind short-circuited.

"To be destined is seldom to be happy," the figure remarked as he took careful steps forward. "To be prophesized is rarely to be blessed," the deep purple rings that surrounded the man's eyes shone slightly. "To be different is rarely a gift, and more of a curse."

With those words, the Sage of the Six paths stood in front of Naruto Uzumaki…and then he sat down on a nearby chair, that appeared out of nowhere.

"Eh?" Naruto blinked.

"It's been a while since I sat down on something," the Sage said with a small smile gracing his lips, while stretching his back and yawning slightly.

"Ohi," Naruto said. "No long-winded philosophical discussion?"

"Don't feel like it," the Sage retorted shrugging. "Frankly? You don't need one, kid."

There was a sloshing sound, and a bottle of sake found its way in the Sage's hands.

"You're drinking sake?" Naruto asked out. He looked around once more, trying to take in the ever-changing surroundings. This wasn't some sort of strange Genjutsu, was it? Something extremely fishy and strange meant to lower his guard and…

"Calm down, kiddo!" the Sage said suddenly, waving his arms. "Just relax and take it easy, all right? You've done your job well enough, you'll return to it eventually so just…take five, if you know what I mean."

"_You_ are the sage of the six paths?" Naruto asked in a slow, questionable voice. "_You_?"

"Yes," the Sage nodded back. "You see the eyes? Back in my times, they got me all the ladies I could wish for."

"You are the one who brought chakra to the shinobi," Naruto continued, "The one who founded the shinobi system, who trapped the Ten Tails inside of his body and became the first Jinchuuriki?"

"Yes again," he replied.

"You then split him in nine, and formed the nine Bijuu."

"And once more, correct," the Sage clapped heartedly. "Want a prize?"

"No serious philosophical lines? No 'Repent, see the truth!' stuff now? Really?" Naruto's eyes were wide in disbelief.

"Ah…yes, I suppose being this place the 'waterfall of truth' I should give you some sort of encouragement, right?" the sage made a small smile with his lips, before closing his eyes and bringing both hands behind his head. "I'm not going to tell you how to live your life," he added in a murmured voice. "Everyone has their own belief of 'right' and 'wrong'. Live with whatever rocks your boat…as long as it lets you sleep at night, it's the right way."

Naruto chuckled as he slumped down on the water. "Only that? Really?"

"You seem so surprised," the sage remarked. "Normally I admit the waterfall would show you your dark self, but apparently you sealed it away together with Kurama," the man shook his head with a hint of grief visible for an instant over his features. "It seems the faults of the fathers will always befall their children."

"Right!" Naruto's hands clapped together. "Explain it!" he said with a light growl. "Tell me…what was Kurama trying to say? What's going to happen in a year?"

"You are," the Sage answered quietly, "Although that is still up to debate."

"I am?" Naruto parroted. "But…me? Orochimaru was right?"

"And wrong at the same time," the Sage replied. "There are actually two more who can fit the criteria. Then again, depending on how you squint your eyes there can also be thousands. One 'taught' by the Toad sage could very well be Sai instead of you, or also a reader who tries a new sexual position after reading _Icha-Icha Learn to Please_."

Naruto's right hand went to his forehead, as he closed his eyes for a moment. "I just didn't hear the Sage of the Six paths say that."

"Why not? My, in my times there was only the missionary position, and after a while it was boring to—"

"I don't want to discuss your sex life!" Naruto yelled with his eyes wide. "I want to know what I'm supposed to do to make things right!"

"That's up to you," the Sage retorted with a light chuckle. "You could return to Konoha, get a slap on the wrist because you're too important to kill or punish, and then wait and see how the world reacts."

There was a heavy sigh. "You could go to Iwagakure, accept the offer of the Tsuchikage and turn the tables on him," the Sage suggested. "You could go to Kumo, to Suna —you could even keep on following Orochimaru. Who do you think I am, your nanny? _You are the one who has to choose_. No glass can be broken, if no hand wields the stone."

"Do what you want," Naruto grumbled. "You're not going to try and tell me that—"

"Why should I tell you where you are wrong? You _chose_ that wrongness, thus you made it _true_. Some people enjoy living in a lie all their life. Would you consider it wrong to feast on human flesh? Nevertheless, some summonses do that. Would you feed on the dreams of children? Some summoned creatures do that too. In the end, what purpose does it serve to be right or wrong? It matters what you do, not how you do it."

"I killed children, wives, elderly…"

"And their faces and their screams will forever remain inside your head, forming scars that will never heal. There is no magic sponge that makes everything _better_, no forgetful potion to erase the guilt your soul can feel…but just like it is easy to forgive oneself, so too it must be easy to forgive others, right?"

"Forgiveness?"

"To forgive, to love, to accept…the shinobi world is filled with hatred, revenge, evil…but that doesn't mean it can't be changed. There are many who live respectable lives, who found their place, their reality. Evil cannot always be forgotten…but it can be forgiven."

"So I should forgive? Orochimaru, he…"

"I know your heart claims for his blood, after all his were the underlings that killed your sensei but…will that change anything? Even if it did, even if it didn't…the past will always remain unchanged."

"Ah, here is the philosophical discussion," Naruto sighed. "I was waiting for this."

"You're the one who's asking me questions. Is it a bit too ingrained in you to follow orders, perhaps?"

"A good shinobi does not ask, he obeys," Naruto quoted.

"I never said that," the Sage grumbled. "I made a single, simple rule. You'd have to wonder how they managed to change it into something else. I mean, I told them all to 'Have a Good Heart'. And what do they do? They get the entire use of Chakra and turn it into a killing business. Where did I go wrong? I should have written on a mountain 'No Killing With Chakra' but even then, I'm sure some imbecile would have erased the 'No'."

"How am I talking to you?" Naruto asked then, eying the sake bottle that never seemed to empty no matter the amount of swings the Sage gave it.

"Chakra lingers," the Sage remarked. "Powerful chakra lingers strongly. Ghosts are nothing more than a by-product of too much chakra left to impress upon a specific location." The man rolled his circled purple eyes. "I left some impressed into my favourite summon, waiting for the sheer chance one would come forward wielding more than a single Bijuu within them. I needed to warn them, after all."

"You're doing a fine job making no sense whatsoever," Naruto deadpanned. "I expected fire, thunder…you know, you're the sage of the six paths, you're practically a venerated god. Why the hell did you just pop out from nowhere with a sake bottle in hand?"

"Does it matter the form the message is delivered, as long as it is delivered?" the Sage retorted, "And I thought it would look cool, 'ttebayo."

"What was that?"

"Nothing," the sage looked actually flustered, "It's only a slip of the tongue, nothing more."

"That sounded…"

"Listen here and listen well," the Sage growled. "The Ten Tails must not be reformed. There are two ways to prevent that… one that is the easy way, and one that is the most difficult one. Of both, you are the one who has to choose."

"So you're going to tell me what those ways are?"

"You already know of them," the Sage retorted. "Either you will bring forth the salvation of the world…or you will bring forth its destruction. You will become either the demon the world needs, or its hero. Let me tell you that at present, you're doing a great job at being a demon."

Naruto closed his eyes, bringing his fingers to massage his temples. "Let's say I believe those are the only two ways. _Why_ are they the only two ways?"

"As long as people live, they feel. It might seem nothing, but love, sadness, happiness or anger…they all leave something in the world. Chakra is the energy that comes from within, from our very soul. It can be Yin or Yang, it can be positive or negative, but it leaves our body naturally with time and merges with the Senjutsu chakra."

The Sage brought his hands together, before tapping his index fingers together and then separating them, forming a circle in the air.

"As long as there is a balance, then everything is fine. As long as some people love, others can grief. If someone hates, another can laugh. Balance is extremely difficult to achieve however, since you can either increase the minor part of the two or you can squash down the greater part."

The circle of light blue chakra filled half with white and half with black, forming the Yin-Yang symbol.

"However, those amounts left in the Earth were nothing more than mere specks. It was when I unlocked the secrets to using Chakra…that things took a turn for the worse," here the Sage grimaced. "The amount simply increased, and balance was broken. It shattered apart," the black side began to engulf the white in the chakra circle floating in the air. "To have a good heart, to offset the evil, that was capricious of me to think. There cannot be good without evil, or evil without good. A world made solely of light is unable to exist. A world only of darkness is doomed to wither and die."

His eyes locked with Naruto's.

"Balance must be achieved. What, do you think, is alive?" the Sage asked then.

"Uh?"

"What do you define as 'living'? Does a rock live? Does a snake? Does a tree? Anything that can change…then lives. Be it a corpse rotting beneath the sun, or a mountain peak slowly eroding to water. As long as there is _change_, then there is life."

The Yin and Yang began to spin slowly. "Peace left the place to war, and war to peace," he continued. "But anger, hatred, revenge…those feelings never left. Is the Earth alive to begin with, Naruto? Are we nothing but parasites in the end?"

"So, the Ten Tails…the Jubi, _he's a good guy_?" disbelief laced Naruto's question, as he stared wide-eyed at the sage's completely serious face.

"That is the crux of the matter," the Sage acquiesced. "With Chakra used for evil purposes, the Jubi came to be to remove it. Like a father, he punished the unruly children with overwhelming strength and severity. Like a monster, he showed no mercy."

"And then you sealed it away," Naruto added. "So that he couldn't complete his purpose."

"Indeed… and when my time came to an end, after I preached long and wide about the dangers of using Chakra wrongly, I was met with a choice on who to name my heir."

"The Senju and the Uchiha ancestors, right?"

"I chose the youngest one," he sighed. "Thinking back on it, I should have chosen someone else entirely. Why is it that brothers always have to fight? I loved them both dearly…and they turned that love into a competition, that competition into hatred, and that hatred became the foundation of the shinobi arts to kill."

He shook his head softly. "If I could spin back the hourglass of time, I'd turn their asses red from slaps."

Naruto nearly choked at the mental image. "Why did you split the Jubi apart?"

"Because he was too powerful," the Sage replied. "He wasn't simply strong, or filled with chakra. He was powerful. You know what it means, to face overwhelming odds? To literally be in the presence of a god that you have to fight without escape? I could have probably lived for hundreds of years, but my life shortened by merely holding that beast within. I had no choice in the end: I split him into nine pieces and taught each of them to have faith, and wait for the day where they would finally find peace."

The Sage's face slowly showed a small smile.

"I dreamed of a place with no hatred, with no death, no misery, no violence…a place where no evil can grow and fester uncontrolled and unchecked…and that was how I dreamed of two earths, rather than one."

"One was of charred ground and another of peace?" Naruto muttered back. "Nice dreams you have."

"You picking up a fight?" the Sage snarled. "I'd like to see you find another way."

Naruto shook his head, before carefully opening his hand. "So, this is all there is?"

"Yes," the Sage acquiesced. "But problems cannot be ignored, Naruto," he grimaced. "The more a problem is ignored, the more it will fester and grow, until it will inevitably reach a proportion beyond salvation."

"So, what you're saying is that there's no magical aid?"

"Exactly," the Sage chuckled. "Facing one's problems, accepting one's actions, acknowledging one's weakness… is the way forward."

Naruto's heart clenched painfully. He hissed, as he felt a wave of hot air pressurize down on his neck. "Argh…" he moaned, as his head thrummed and his ears ringed. "W-What is…"

The sage's hands went to his shoulders, firmly clasping on them as his eyes narrowed on Naruto's. "There are paths that one must travel, before he may claim to know the world. There are things that one must acknowledge, before he can claim to know. There might be a third way, beyond destruction or forced peace, but I do not know of it. Balance _must_ last, for there is no hope beyond the end of the year for you all."

"I'm the one who has to save the world then?"

"As I told you before…"

"I'm not going to believe a wanker is the prophesized one no matter the way you put it, old man," Naruto grumbled.

"Who are you calling an old man?" the Sage retorted hotly, a nervous tick mark on his forehead. "I'll let you know I'm in the prime of my youth."

"Still old," Naruto retorted. A twinge of pain sliced his heart. "I…I better leave?"

"When you meet Gyuki, tell him…" the Sage smiled warmly. "Tell him that violence never solved anything."

The world around Naruto shattered then, and with a heavy gasp of air, he felt his entire body flung backwards as the waterfall exploded. His hands came up, shielding him with sand that rose from the ground to protect him as jagged rocks slammed against the impromptu mass of gravel.

The water drained quickly in the pond, leaving behind nothing but a muddied hole. Beyond the waterfall was now visible a cave, where the lullaby called to him even stronger than before. Yet, abruptly, the song ceased.

The ground cracked as the trees splintered. A scream describable only as that of a mournful spirit ruptured the very air. Fissures spread on the soil; crimson mist sprayed out, colouring of red the grass and the trees. The stench of rot filled the winds, and Naruto couldn't help but slam his right foot on the ground to jump high above it all, to try and understand what the devastation was about.

His answer came from his very soul, as the Nibi whispered with a quiet voice.

"Once a summon has finished its task, it will unsummon."

Naruto's hands went through the hand seals for a summoning, before he bit down on his thumb to call forth a bird to hold him in the air.

A giant vulture —but not Hagewashi— answered the call, and as he gracefully landed on its back, he eyed the devastation wrought upon the island.

The giant tortoise was screaming in pain, as centuries of rocks, tree roots and branches broke away from its shell. It couldn't unsummon however, for some reason Naruto didn't understand.

"She tried hard to remain among the living, defying even Death," the Nibi whispered. "Now, wounded and poisoned, without enough chakra to return home…I suppose it's just fitting for someone to end her suffering, rather than let her die by the hand of venom upon a foreign land."

Naruto's hand went to the handle of the Butcher's cleaver. He held it sideways, giving a light tap to the vulture's back who understood his intention.

Wind chakra formed on the sides of the cleaver, so strongly that a gale began to blow upon the waters. The vulture cawed before plummeting down, flapping its powerful wings to increase its speed.

The whistling noise of the wind grew louder and louder, as Naruto clenched his teeth and held his tongue steady. Was it merciful, to kill someone in pain?

His hands stopped trembling from the pressure of the descent. Chakra flared briefly to increase the length of the butcher's sword, and then Naruto jumped down from the back of the bird, silent as if the action itself wasn't suicidal to begin with.

Time seemed to slow as he poured all the chakra he could muster through the blade as he brought it down. The death would be quick, painless. It actually didn't matter that 'Croat' was in the way. He'd unsummon probably. In a single instant in which there was nothing but silence filling his head, Naruto felt at ease.

This was his nature. He was a weapon, deadly, lethal, and _powerful_. His power went beyond the mere knowledge of techniques or the amount of chakra. In that single instant of pure adrenaline, his heart drummed strongly and a smile formed on his face.

Then the cleaver came down.

Blood sprayed for a single instant, tinging the waters of the ocean in crimson puddles. An enormous explosion of smoke rocked next, pushing away Naruto from the water's surface. The Vulture grabbed his back with the tip of its beak, pulling him back on his shoulders between its wings.

Naruto gasped for air staring at the devastation brought by his attack, as his throat twitched in desperate need to let something escape.

A dry chuckle emerged from his lips; the boy shook his head in disbelief.

"Really," he chuckled, bringing his right hand to cover his face. "What a mess."

"Where to, summoner?" the Vulture asked.

To that question, Naruto now knew the answer very well.

"Iwagakure," he remarked. "Never trade an unknown threat for one you know of," he added in a meek whisper.

There was really no need to stick around for either Orochimaru or Itachi. Orochimaru hadn't forced him to follow him, and the meeting with the Sage had actually yielded some interesting and insightful answers to the problem at hand.

He wondered, his gaze settling on the clouds that streaked by in the sky while his arms crossed in front of his chest, if freedom was peace.

People generally considered clouds peaceful, and they were free. Yet at the same time, wind enslaved them to his will. Sheep lived in ignorance, guided by their shepherds…but they were _peaceful_. A form of law always had to exist, when society came to be. Wasn't that just the final proof that humanity could not rule itself?

Given chakra, they had devolved to brutally. Without it, they still fought with steel and tore apart countries. He shook his head, letting the wind ruffle through his hair. "A wasteland of sand or a meadow of silence," he mumbled. "There has to be a third way…" he stared at the black wings of his summon, "If you call bonds _shackles_, then you _enslave_. If you call shackles _bonds_, then you _bring_ _together_ people."

"It's all a matter of perspective, after all," he chuckled again, taking one last steadying breath.

"I'm getting married, I suppose."

_Mei Terumi_

"I told the Raikage we have nothing to do with it!" she hissed. "Zabuza is dead, we burned his corpse and someone took his sword!"

Candles softly lighted the office of the Mizukage, as a thick woolly carpet occupied much of the floor. There was a desk, a few cerulean tinted windows and a few armchairs. A fire crackled in the nearby fire pit, casting lights and shadows over the face of the Kumogakure ambassador.

"But what if he isn't dead…" the white haired man was getting on her nerves. His name was Omoi, and he was there either to suck Kirigakure dry or to force a war against them with a Casus Belli.

"There are no what ifs!" she nearly shrieked, instead opting for a light hiss. "Someone is trying to pin the blame on Kirigakure."

"An entire squad of Kumogakure shinobi blames your Demon of the Hidden Mist, Mizukage," Omoi retorted dryly. "One might be a traitor, but all of them?"

"Maybe they all need glasses," Mei retorted. "Listen, ambassador, we do not have the sword. We are looking for it as we speak! You think we would lie about having lost it?"

"Why not? You could lie about _having_ it to avoid looking weak, or you could lie about not having it to keep the Demon hidden and use him," Omoi said, "And what if it's all a ploy within a ploy, and in truth you're actually protecting a secret by not protecting it and thus you really don't have the sword?"

"Yes! We don't have the sword!"

"But because you said you don't have the sword, what if you do have the sword?"

Mei closed her eyes and took a deep, sharp breath. "Ao, show the ambassador the door to his rooms. We'll talk with him more tomorrow."

"Follow me," Ao said then crisply, entering from the door and stepping right next to Omoi who made a dry 'tsk' sound.

"Raikage-sama told me to stay only one day," Omoi said briskly, his gaze moving from Ao to the Mizukage. "If you do not wish to admit your fault in the matter, then I will leave today."

"No doubt tomorrow there will be a fleet from the North," Mei hissed. "You already have some men prepared, haven't you?"

"We can no longer remain blind to this threat," Omoi said, his eyes flicking towards the windows.

"There will be no need for any explosive escapes," Mei stated, a small smile settling on her plump lips. "You are free to go then, and while you're at it do inform your Raikage that if it was a war he asked…then a war he will receive."

With those words said, Ao escorted Omoi out of the office of the Mizukage, where two Kirigakure Anbu would then finish 'guiding' him outside the village.

Mei stood up then, as the door closed, and turned to watch the village from the window. The entire structure was new, just like much of the village. There were barely a few buildings that had survived the onslaught of the three tails, and of those, she ordered many brought down to be on the safe side.

She disliked acting rashly, too many times people around her called her 'hot-blooded' because of that, as if they were funny, making a pun on her bloodline ability. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. Within the end of the day, the village would know of war looming over the horizon. Within the end of the week, the first casualties would trickle in with ink and paper reports. Within the end of the month, the other nations would know.

Within the end of the year, she'd be either standing on the ruined ashes of Kumogakure, or with her legs open and popping out babies for the Raikage and his ilk.

She bit on her lips furiously. She'd rather die than become a breeding cow for Kumo.

Mei's hand went to the lock of hair that covered half of her face, and slowly, she removed it to stare at her reflection in the mirror. Scars covered that side of her face, scars and burn marks. The fight against the previous Mizukage had not been without its price, and her _body_ had been one of the things that went first.

Still, she had gladly paid the price for the power she now had. She was the Mizukage, and she, alone, decided the lives of those within Kiri.

"Bring in that representative of Gato industries," she remarked then, apparently to no one, "He and I will have a chat face to face about some...troubling events."

A deal with the devil more, one less…what difference did it make?

_Isobu_

Everything was his.

Everything belonged to him.

Everyone was his toy, his object of desire, his possession —whether they knew it or not, they all where his in the end. Closed away from the rest of the world, he slept within his own shell. Everything was his, the ground, the water, the air…

It all belonged to him.

The Sin of Greed fed him, and the more he wanted the more he had, the more he had the better he was, the better he was the more he could obtain. The bar of greed never lowered, but always increased. If someone had a hundred, they desired two hundred, then four hundred, then tens of hundreds. If someone was happy and their neighbour was happier, they desired their happiness, their wealth, and their possessions.

The ugly wife changed for the beautiful one. The money in the household increased for no other reason but greed and desire for more.

He felt all that as he rested, and suddenly, he felt _**more**_.

His tails swished back and forth. They trembled, as his body wracked with spasms. It was coming. He could feel it deep within his very essence. The time of war, the time where Misery, Death, Greed, Revenge, Arrogance Disgust, Ignorance, Violence and Malice ruled the world and the minds of humans would come once more. Blood would pour on the ground; screams would reach upon the very foundations of heaven itself.

He would be there, to watch it all fall.

He heard the desires, he felt their greed…and in the end, he knew where he had to go.

"I am coming," he spoke in the depths of the sea, his left eye shining as it opened. "Brothers, sisters," he said, "I will lend my aid."

His hands gripped tightly on the seabed, lifting clouds of sand as he flexed his fingers and arms. The next moment, he pushed himself away from the bottom of the sea with a single powerful push. He rose through the water quickly, spinning around as fast as he could.

He emerged from the water with a bellowing roar, as corals formed to cover the sea's surface. He landed atop a platform of them, crunching a few beneath his weight and firmly gripping on his impromptu raft.

Isobu flexed his muscles again, and once more, he jumped. He'd have to hurry…he didn't want to miss his cue, after all.

_Karin_

Konoha was a village of imbeciles. If the Spandex-clad man assigned to be her escort wasn't enough to prove it, then there was the stupid tanned girl who was also a Jinchuuriki, and who was on permanent 'patrol' duty around Konoha. She was there too to begin with, but 'this and that' and 'oh well, can't help it' made it all the more understandable.

She bit her lips, letting the pleasurable sensation wash over her mouth as blood trickled on her tongue. There was nothing for miles around them, except Konoha ninjas, yet since the return from the Land of Iron security had tripled.

"Karin-chan! Have your youthful flames found anything!?"

She shook her head. "No," she replied. "Nothing. There are only Konoha shinobi as far as I can see."

If someone had told her she'd be working for Konoha in the end, she'd have laughed at them, butchered them into tiny pieces of flesh and then raped their corpse cold with barbed wire, before setting the person in question on fire for daring to even joke about it. She could manage that without actually 'killing' them completely —the special qualities of her blood always managed to surprise her somehow.

Yet in the end, here she was, working for Konoha.

"Ah! I see! Yosh!" Gai exclaimed once more, fist pumping in the air. "Then we will move to the South Gate! If we cannot reach it in five minutes, then I will make five laps around Konoha!"

"Oh! Oh! A game!" Fu yelled back, clapping her hands excitedly. "Let's play! Let's play!"

Karin narrowed her eyes, and then tapped gently on the bulge that was below her stomach.

"Ahem, pregnant kunoichi here," she bitterly muttered. "_No running_."

**Author's notes**

…

**The reason I'm late with the update? I had to scrap and rewrite the Waterfall of Truth scene a dozen of times. No use putting Dark Naruto there, hence the Sage making his appearance. And the bit with Karin was, well…**

***Chuckles quietly* now I dare the pairing guys to find out what 'pairing' this is. It could be NaruKuro, NaruKarin, NaruSakur…or, of course, it could be **_**no pairing at all**_** as stated on the tin.**

**Ah…the beauty of being **_**The**_** writer? I **_**now**_** know how it ends. I give this…maybe twelve chapters more. (then my muse might prove me wrong and go further, but we **_**are**_** reaching the finishing stretch)**


	55. Dealing with People

Introverted

Chapter Fifty-Five

Iwagakure's air smelt like ashes and molten metal. The incessant drumming of machines from the very mountains was everywhere around the shinobi village. One of the reasons all Iwagakure shinobi learned their namesake technique 'to hide in the rock' after all was to manage to _sleep_ in peace and quiet, without being disturbed.

Across the gates, the Iwagakure Special Forces were currently trying their best to appear calm. In reality, they were outright going through every single known alert code they knew or had even a remote inkling of to get as much attention as possible on the Southern Gate.

That was because at the gate in question…was a visitor.

Differently from Konoha, that was hidden in the forest but easily accessible, or Kirigakure that was on an island and guarded by fearsome fog banks and jagged underwater reefs, Iwagakure's location was _secret_. It was the type of secret not even Iwagakure missing-nin could reveal, because the entrance itself changed every time.

A set of tunnels interchanged with one another before leading to the empty chimney of the dormant volcano upon which rested the village hidden in the rocks. That was on the good days, of course. On the bad days, the tunnels led to active magma pits actively patrolled by Iwagakure High Jounin, or in the middle of dangerous traps made to maim and kill the assaulters.

Konoha had its seals, but Iwagakure had the strength of nature herself on its side. There were not only jagged cliffs and tall mountains separating Iwagakure shinobi from the main trafficked roads, but also narrow rivers and a set of maze-like bridges to boot.

The visitor did attract attention, not only for his shoulder-length blond hair which ended in spikes of black or for the giant Butcher Cleaver strapped to his back, but also because he had no forehead protector, yet wore a chuunin flak jacket.

The cerulean eyes seemed icily cold as they scanned the gate guards, but the Iwagakure shinobi weren't trained to simply shudder because of a piercing glare.

"So, when is the Tsuchikage coming down here?" Naruto asked calmly.

"He will be here when he decides to be, shinobi," the gate guard snarled back.

"So…before the end of the day? How do you get light down here anyway? I'd think in the middle of a volcano there'd be a darker atmosphere."

"That is an Iwagakure secret," the guard replied gritting his teeth.

"We use mirrors, brat," the Tsuchikage appeared in a flicker, lifting a light sheen of dust as he landed. "Ah! I knew my hopes were well placed!" the old man snickered as he rubbed his hands together, sporting a small smile. Oonoki of Iwa's smile was anything but nice —it was a mixture of a snake having caught its prey and a ferocious wolf readying the mortal blow upon a deer— but Naruto returned it with one of his own.

"How could I refuse? It took me some time, but I did manage to reach here." His answer met with a gruff strangled voice from a nearby guard. To them it was probably preposterous to talk so casually with their Tsuchikage.

"How did you get past the tunnels, brat?" Oonoki asked then, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"I didn't, I just carved my way through in a linear line," holding a grin, Naruto produced a rasengan in his right hand. "Surely, you can do the same now?"

"Few of ours can," the Tsuchikage acquiesced, "But we'll have it learned in due time," Oonoki turned to the guards and the assembled Jounin —who had actually answered the call because of a 'visitor' at the gate.

"Listen up brats! This here is an esteemed guest of the Tsuchikage, the son of the Yondaime," gasps and glares echoed in the assembled shinobi force, "And a nuke-nin of Konoha! Before anyone thinks about backstabbing him or poisoning his tea, think what would taste sweeter: the death of the Yellow Flash's only son, or him swapping sides! And if your answer is still the first, then know that if you even try…I will not have mercy upon you, or _your families_."

That quieted down much of the assembled ninjas, who still kept their gazes of diffidence up…or simply faked their hostility disappearing well enough.

"Follow me," the Tsuchikage commented, flickering on the nearby rooftop. Naruto followed him, his feet landing on the hard stone before dashing forward, standing to the side of Oonoki.

"So, why did you choose Iwagakure in the end?" the old man asked, his voice neutral and controlled.

"You want to use me, I want to use you," Naruto deadpanned. "I'm not one for circling around the issue, Tsuchikage-sama."

"Enough with the empty words and gestures then," Oonoki grumbled, "Call me 'Jiji' from now on, nephew."

"Oonoki-Jiji?" Naruto brought up an eyebrow, "You're actually sentimental about these things?"

"Kurotsuchi is my only granddaughter," the man replied. "I might have the will of the stone to sacrifice her for a just cause, but that doesn't mean I can't wish for her happiness in the end."

There was half a threat in those words, one Naruto picked up easily. "Of course I'll make her happy, within the limits of reason."

"Very well," Oonoki jumped over one last rooftop, before landing on the roof of the Tsuchikage's tower. The construction looked like a giant castle, with the top cylindrical and with small windows, difficult to access and completely different from the layout of the Hokage's tower. Smaller towers popped up from its sides, giving it the appearance of a tree upon which mushrooms had grown from its sides.

It was then, that Naruto gave a full look around the village.

The buildings were all cylindrical, carved out of the rocks themselves. A bit in the distance, water rushed down in streams from crevices and cracks in the walls. There were few trees, sparse and in between, all covered in a light sheen of fog and dust. If not for the coloured tops of the buildings themselves, he would probably never have seen the rooftops to begin with.

"We should discuss business," Oonoki affirmed as he opened a hatch on the roof, before jumping down.

Naruto followed, closing the hatch behind him and landing in a softly lit room, where a deep crimson carpet laid across the floor. There were sculptures on the left side of the office, which accurately portrayed the Tsuchikage both of the past and of the present.

"You were taller when they made your statue," Naruto deadpanned, staring at a muscle-bound giant rendition of Oonoki —which screamed 'fake' over a thousand times over to his senses.

"I was young and reckless," Oonoki acquiesced, a smile on his lips. "And a bit high-strung on getting it 'to emphasize my good points'," he chuckled, "I scared the sculpture so much he had a heart attack by the time the statue was finished."

Naruto nodded, his eyes then settling on the Tsuchikage's now sitting form at his desk.

"Judging by how you came here alone, and with that sword on your back, I can reasonably understand what is going on," Oonoki said with a feral smile. "You faked your death, grabbed that sword, and went on a nice killing spree over the border of Kumo and Kiri to start a war. Then, under orders from the Hokage, you came here alone to later prove that all along you've been working for Iwa. In that way, you'd get Kiri and Kumo's weakened forces to pass through Konoha to reach Iwa."

The Tsuchikage's eyes shone darkly. "Then, with three battling and weakened countries, Konoha would be able to completely assimilate them."

Naruto blinked.

He…He took a step back. He didn't like that tone at all.

"Of course, this is only my supposition, a supposition stemming from being an extremely paranoid, old and cranky third Tsuchikage. Furthermore, I wouldn't have publicly announced you as a turncoat of Konoha for no reason too, if I didn't have my own share of earning to get from this," the Tsuchikage gave a dry and sly gaze towards Naruto.

"You mean, grandsons?"

"Yes, but that alone could easily be obtained by knocking you out cold, getting what Iwagakure needs and then slicing your neck. Of course we'd have to deal with the Kyuubi afterwards, but I have no doubt we could still seal it away," Oonoki shrugged. "No, there is a reason I'm dealing with you, one far more simple and easy to understand."

"Ah, now I get it," Naruto retorted, nodding sagely. "You don't know if I can slip through your grasp or not, right?"

"In part," the third Tsuchikage grumbled. "That slippery technique of your father killed many, and I will forever curse the day he created it, but that is not still enough to warrant aiding you —whether you're a spy or not, and whether you're worthy of it or not."

"So there's more I can do for you…like aiding you take the Land of the Moon?"

"Precisely kid," Oonoki smiled, "The Land of the Moon is rich, filled with Casinos and entertainment industries of various kinds," his old fingers tapped on the desk. "Many legal, many more illegal everywhere but there, but that alone would not be sufficient still. I can still try my hand and get it without dirtying myself too much…no, there is still one more thing you being on my side entails."

"And what exactly is it, then?" Naruto's eyes narrowed, as the Tsuchikage quietly unclasped a scroll.

"It discredits Konoha. It discredits Konoha _extremely_," he stood up, letting his Kage robes flap loosely. "The son of the Yondaime, who was the most powerful shinobi of the land of Fire… the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, an Anbu and personal guard of the Hokage…changing sides, like this? Without an alliance in place, whether you're a plant or not, your mere presence here gives me enough to take away more than half the business of Konoha," his eyes glinted.

"You'll suffocate Konoha economically," Naruto mumbled, his right hand up to his chin, his eyes closed. "And even if I'm a plant, you'll press me as much as you can before I give."

"Within reason of course," Oonoki said, bringing up his hands. "I need grandsons after all…and you said it yourself, with your 'use and be used'. You want to use Iwa as a shield against your actions as a missing ninja? I want to use you until you nearly drop dead from exhaustion."

"We'll have to make conditions however," Naruto began. "I do have the interest of becoming the next Tsuchikage."

"You do?" Oonoki's eyes widened for a brief second. "Either you're the _gutsiest_ plant I have ever seen, or you really did not think of using Iwagakure as a shield for your actions to let Konoha save face," he exhaled, shaking his head slowly. "Very well, but in exchange I want Konoha's security details."

"I don't have them. I ranked as a Tokubetsu Jounin after my period in Anbu training ended. They never saw fit of giving them to me," he turned thoughtful. "I can give you something else however, but for that I have more conditions."

"Oh? And what is it that you'd sell for even more conditions? The Hiraishin? Did your father actually leave a written record?"

Naruto smiled. "That's my insurance. I'd think the entire village of Konoha knowing how to use said technique would be pretty devastating, don't you think?"

"And you wouldn't give it to them all while you're still alive because of the potential for abuse…but as a deterrent, I admit I'm intrigued. Summoning charged to hold the scroll, I suppose," Oonoki grumbled. "Well brat, at least you have a decent head for contingencies," the Tsuchikage sighed.

"Not that I was planning on doing anything with a strong arm. You are probably one of the few Jinchuuriki that remains in the grasp of a village. Whoever holds you can easily topple the situation around the world," grumbling, he moved to get his pipe. "So, what's your deal?"

"I reserve the right to retreat on missions involving Konoha shinobi I personally know," he began softly.

"Wait. You're not against doing missions against Konoha?"

"Konoha is just a village," he retorted. "It never was 'home'. Just a mass of buildings, a mass of people, a mass of individuals who go about their daily lives…"

"Uhm…" Oonoki turned thoughtful, "Go on then, I'm listening."

"I'll fight your missions, but I want a mask and a codename for it. Let Konoha know I'm on your side, but let me fight anonymously. If they know where I am…"

"They'd prepare countermeasures or try to take you in, while if I don't reveal you publicly in battle, they can still cling to us lying to bolster our strengths," Oonoki actually nodded emphatically. "That's a reasoning I can go behind."

Naruto swallowed. "And that is pretty much all there is. You can treat me like you would any other shinobi of Iwagakure."

"That's a pretty tall order. So, what do you have?"

"I know the Kage Bunshin technique, but of course I'm without the scroll for it," he smiled. "I'll have to teach it to someone, and considering its chakra requirements…I say I could teach it to my son or daughter when they come of age."

Oonoki smiled.

He smiled and chuckled then with glee. "Ah! It really is a pleasure doing business with you, Naruto Namikaze! Very well, I accept your terms," from the desk, Oonoki took out an Iwagakure headband and a Jounin flak jacket. "And to prove to me your trust, as well as getting you acquainted with the village…" here the Tsuchikage's smile turned feral once more. "I'll hand you over a team of Genin. Better to start learning about responsibilities early on, right?"

"And Genin don't have techniques I could steal or learn given time," Naruto deadpanned back. "And since I'd have to protect them, I wouldn't be able to slip away unnoticed during the missions, which would be D-ranks within the village for at least a few months."

"Glad to see you've got a brain behind your mouth," Oonoki moved, to stare out of the window. "I know it might seem sudden, or hypocrite of me to say this, but you know…in another life, in another time…your father and I would probably have been friends," he chuckled quietly. "He had the same eyes as you and I do."

"What type of eyes?" Naruto asked, loosening his Konoha headband to replace it with the Iwagakure one.

"Cold, uncaring…yet fuelled by something beyond mere anger or resentment. The eyes of a determined person shine through the darkest of nights, you know? It's those types of eyes that belong to people who simply won't die without putting up a fight," Oonoki smiled, "Those are good eyes to have. Careful not to let them become dirty."

Oonoki crossed both hands behind his back and walked to stand to his side. "Let us walk now, I'll show you around the town properly."

Naruto nodded and quietly, he followed.

There was much to see and little time, as he soon found out. Iwagakure had a ground level riddled with fissures and deep rivers that multiple bridges crossed.

"On that bridge I fought Uchiha Madara himself," Oonoki said, his gaze lingering over a particular red-painted bridge with a small shrine at its end. "It is where I and the second Tsuchikage battled him anyway, and he wiped the floor with us both," he chuckled. "He was a downright bastard."

Oonoki spat to the side, before grumbling and taking a deep breath. He began to levitate a moment after, "Trouble of getting old," he explained, "Is that you end up with your bones cranky before long. Once I used to run around this village, now I can barely take a few steps."

"Are you trying to fake weakness?" Naruto asked calmly, raising an eyebrow. "It fails completely. I know you aren't weak, Tsuchikage-sama."

"I said to cut it with the honorifics," Oonoki smiled. "Very well, the market's a bit bare at present, what with the tensions high and the road's condition…" he gestured to a variety of stalls filled with all sorts of things. Ranging from penchants and medals to steel kunai and armours, it had an impressive display for being 'bare'.

"We supply the majority of weapons and armours the Land of Iron needs," he puffed his chest up. "And many more villages and suppliers come to us for the quality of our steel. Even Konoha, begrudgingly, prefers Iwagakure's steel to that of other countries," the smirk turned feral, "Our blades can cut through anything."

"And your shields can block anything?" Naruto continued, knowing where this would go.

"Then, what if they both meet?" Oonoki added with a gleeful chuckle. "Ah! I knew you would have known one of the oldest tricks in the book! So, what is the answer you gave?"

"The one who strikes better, who position himself better, who is better…that is the one who survives," Naruto retorted. "That was my first answer, but my teacher corrected me on that."

"So what did he answer?"

"If you give the enemy the time to take out his shield, then you're a failure of a Shinobi and should go back to the academy," Naruto quipped. "He was very incensed on having the right mentality for the right mission."

"Was he a member of the Special Forces?"

"He was their chief for a while," Naruto remarked dryly. "You shouldn't know him."

"I don't," Oonoki retorted. "It doesn't mean I won't find out, _eventually_." He stressed the last part out, before walking the last steps of the cobblestone road that led to a pear-shaped mansion that nestled for half of it into the mountainside itself. There was a pool of natural water collected from a river nearby that branched off, the other part falling down in the city's lower half.

"Maybe," Naruto looked up, craning his neck to take in the mansion in its entirety.

"This is the Tsuchikage's mansion. It's where you'll live from now on anyway," Oonoki shrugged, before gesturing him in.

"You can start calling it home," the old Kage snickered as he stepped in after him. The floor was made of smooth marble, and the smell of sulphur came up strongly from a door further down. "The bathrooms are at the end. They are natural hot springs. One of the few benefits of having a hidden village in a dormant volcano is that hot water is always available," chuckling to himself, the old Tsuchikage headed in the kitchen.

"This here is Junko; she's the housekeeper and one of Iwagakure's finest Kunoichi," the woman that met him with a crossed look was a tall and stern-looking ninja, dressed in formal mission attire and holding her dark eyes fixed on him as if he was some sort of monster. The looks of the Konoha villagers returned to his mind, but this time he snarled them down.

He had grown from being a boy scared of his own shadow and the whispers; he had grown from being afraid of the glares. He would be doing the glaring from now on. His gaze went past the woman to the plates she was setting on the table.

"Ah, Tsuchikage-sama, do we have a guest?"

"Yes Junko, we do," Oonoki smiled. "Let me present to you Naruto Namikaze."

"It is a pleasure getting to know the son of the man that killed my father," Junko smiled.

"Well, you can't choose who you are born to," Naruto replied smiling back, "But you can choose whether to pick up their mantle or not, and I refused to pick up my father's."

"Well, that's something we will have to see," Oonoki hummed thoughtfully. "Is Kurotsuchi still training outside?"

"She's in the bath right now," Junko acquiesced.

"Oh, very well," the Tsuchikage sat down, "Please, add another plate. We'll discuss everything over a nice warm lunch."

Somehow, it felt more like two sharks were about to meet one another, rather than two people about to have lunch.

_Sakura_

"So, is there anything else you can tell me about him?" she asked, eying Sasuke's form. His body was tense, his face pained as she had him recall everything he knew about his brother —what little details the rest of her investigations hadn't turned out.

"No, that's all," Sasuke dryly replied, a grimace settled on his face. "You won't be able to defeat him alone, you know that?"

"I'm stronger than I was at the academy, Uchiha."

"It's not a matter of strength," Sasuke murmured. "It's a matter of mind," he chuckled. "It took me a while to understand his words. You are really going to fight someone who had no qualms in killing his entire clan? How are you going to find him to begin with?"

"That is for me to find out," she retorted, "Thank you for your time, Uchiha."

"Listen to me for a moment!" Sasuke snarled, "If you even think that going against him head on is what will make you win, then think again! He will demolish you! He will tear apart your mind and strike you down!"

"It doesn't matter," muttered Sakura, "At least I will have fought."

"Go on then," grumbled Sasuke. "Go on to your death!"

Silently, Sakura walked away from the Inuzuka's grounds and towards the main road to the centre of Konoha. It wasn't the first time Sasuke had said he had told her everything, only for her to suddenly remember a different question to ask the next day. She'd keep on coming back until she knew everything, and then when all the information available was possible, she'd fight and kill him by herself.

That man had dared to take away from her the most important thing her life had. She was not going to let it go. She would avenge Naruto.

"Cherry," a male voice, coming from a nearby rooftop, distracted her long enough for Sai to land and stand next to her. "I saw your forehead's shining beacon and came."

"Forehead jokes are old news, Sai," Sakura retorted gruffly. "If it's about that dinner, I'm not…"

"It is a mean to socialize with other from our own generation. What little of them remains," Sai added. "There will be no refusal to participate from you, Cherry. I can paint you a dress if you don't have one."

"Are you telling me you will go with your clothes painted on you?"

"Painted clothing is a fashion statement," Sai remarked. "It's…clothes, painted on a naked body. The ultimate form of Schrodinger's reality: is the person dressed or not dressed? Until one touches her, she is dressed. When one touches her, she is naked."

Sakura sighed. "Being with Jiraiya turned you into a worse pervert than before, Sai."

"Jiraiya-sama taught me many things," Sai admitted. "He taught me where the G-spot is. Did you know it's…"

"I'm a girl and a medic! I know where the hell that spot is!" she retorted hotly, her face heated from embarrassment. "Really Sai," she groaned. "If I go, you promise you'll let me leave early?"

"The moment the first of them leaves," Sai said with a knowing nod.

"I'll be the only girl, I just know it," Sakura sighed. She yawned slightly, bringing her right hand up to her mouth. "Do I really have to go? I'm tired from listening to Sasuke's 'You-won't-win-you'll-just-die' crap."

"Yes, it will do you good. Socializing helps people forget their worries," Sai remarked, "By looking at how others live their crappy dickless lives."

"That's…I don't think that's how it's supposed to be, Sai," Sakura exhaled loudly, shaking her head. "I'll catch a nap and be there."

"Don't worry, I'll come and wake you up," Sai retorted. "Maybe I'll use a bucket of water. If I wet you enough, do you grow roots?"

"No, but if you try that I will personally castrate you."

With a bright smile, she flickered out of the road and onto the nearby building's rooftop. From there, she jumped down once more in front of her house, and entered. The moment her gaze went to the fridge, she just knew the scene would be the same as always.

Fuu was sticking her head in the fridge.

"Fuu!"

"Uh?" the girl replied, emerging with a dried sardine in her mouth like a cat caught with its paws on the jam. The sardine dangled from her mouth for a moment, before she quickly swallowed it whole.

"You're going to spoil your dinner," Sakura hissed.

"That's stupid," Fuu snickered back, "You can't spoil a dinner. It doesn't like things."

Sakura slumped down on the chair in the kitchen, letting go of the pile of papers she had in her hands and closing her eyes. A cool touch soon came gently to her temples, as Fuu pressed over her forehead a cold bottle of water.

"Here!" she chirped happily. "Everything went well?"

"No," Sakura groaned.

"Oh…uhm…" Fuu turned around. Sakura could just imagine her trying to come up with something to continue the conversation. "Why are baby showers done without babies?"

"What?" that question was strange even for Fuu's parameters.

"My team's going to hold a baby shower for one of my teammates who's pregnant! But the baby isn't born yet, so why is there a shower without the baby?"

"It's a way of saying they'll buy gifts a baby might need, and 'showering' him in gifts."

"Like what?"

"Like…I don't know, a crib?"

"But isn't a baby going to die if you shower him with a crib? Even I know that much," she said proud of her statement.

"You don't actually shower the baby with the gifts," Sakura exhaled once more loudly. She was going to have her hair turn grey before long. "You buy a gift, and then hand it over to the expectant mother. It's as simple as that."

"Oh, good!" there was a heartbeat of silence. Literally, Sakura could swear her heart had given off a single beat, before Fuu asked once more. "What do you gift a baby?"

"What does the mother have already?"

"Don't know."

"What would she like?"

"Don't know."

The way she replied made it clear she was trying to rope her into it. "When is the baby shower going to take place?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? Good," Sakura opened her eyes then. "You mean you have to buy the gift today."

"Yes!"

"And depending on how long it might take, we will be out also during the night," Sakura continued.

"Uh? What? I don't know…"

"We'll eat dinner outside."

"At Hebi's?"

"Yes, at Hebi's," Sakura muttered. "Anywhere but here, where Sai can find us."

"Why?"

"Because he wants us to go to a horrible party," Sakura snapped back standing up quickly. "Let's go out and buy a nice teddy bear, all right?"

"Yeah! For me?"

"Well…one for you and one for the baby then," Sakura added, being particularly festive at the thought of avoiding the 'socializing' with the shinobi of her age. She was already at the door when Fuu commented offhandedly.

"Good! You know it's going to be a boy?"

"Yes? Nice to know," Sakura stated while plainly uninterested about it if not for the mental note of buying —if a teddy was not found— a cerulean baby dress.

"Uh-uh, and she's going to call him Naruto, like his father."

If Sakura's neck could have spun faster, it would have. "W-What?"

"Naruto! It has the same name as Naruto, but it's not our Naruto. At least, I think it's…when two people have the same name it's…"

"Ah…" Sakura exhaled in relief. "Yes, I understand. When two people have the same name it's said they are one another's _namesake._"

"Oh," Fuu blinked. "So it's a Naruto namesake?"

"Maybe," Sakura shrugged. "It is curious though…who else would call their son after a topping in ramen?"

"Someone who likes ramen very much?" Fu hazarded.

Sakura kept shaking her head all throughout the day. Even as they settled for a teddy and a couple of clothes, there really was no way to keep Fuu away from the Hebi. Therefore, she completely missed the signs of the trap springing, when she entered Hebi and found herself sitting at the same table as Sai and the rest of the 'same-age' shinobi.

If looks could kill, hers would have murdered Sai in an instant.

Shikamaru Nara, Chouji Akimichi, Kiba Inuzuka, Ami Satou, Shino Aburame…broken teams, reformed teams, dark eyes…they all shared the same look.

She, Sai and Fuu completed the table. There was an empty chair, for someone who apparently had yet to arrive. The only one that could possibly join them would Neji Hyuga, if he ever decided to leave the door of Hinata's room unguarded.

Thinking about Hinata made her grimace. The timid girl of the Academy replaced with a ranting lunatic, unable even to remember herself, was a harsh and bitter pill to swallow.

She smiled forcefully towards Ami, who returned the smile before sweetly saying.

"Ehi, Forehead Girl, you trying to get in Sasuke's pants now that Naruto's dead?"

The Hebi was no longer the same after Sakura flung the first fist.

_Nagato_

"Where are you going?" Konan asked him, and as always, he just stared back at her. "Don't give me that look, Nagato," Konan remarked. "Where. Are. You. Going."

"Sunagakure," Nagato said. "To see if Sasori is done with his Gelel-Puppet army."

"He would have sent a message if he had."

"Not if he's working for Orochimaru," Nagato said dryly, moving towards the outer balcony of Amegakure's Kage tower. Hanzo had the tower completely closed from the outside, and even the balcony had been out of limits during his time —paranoid as he was, he never went anywhere without being sure he was covered from snipers.

"If he is, he will die," Konan replied. "There is nothing that can stop you, Nagato."

"If that was true, then why does the statue elude me yet?" the red haired man replied bitterly. "I can feel someone is holding it down, but I can't understand where it is."

Growling, he slammed his fist against the wall's side. "If only I hadn't trusted Madara. I let him keep the location a secret!" snarling, he looked up to the sky. "In any case, I'll go and see how long it will take yet. While I'm gone…keep an eye out for Amegakure's citizens."

"I will," Konan nodded.

With those words, Nagato disappeared in thin air.

Konan returned inside, and sighed. Once more, Nagato assigned her to guarding one of places everyone else already guarded. It wasn't as if someone would suddenly be suicidal enough to step inside now that he had left, right?

_Hebi_

Konoha sucked.

"Stand still you brat!" Karin's manners were even worse.

"I can't properly peel your skin if you keep on dodging!" her means of showing loves were truly horrible. One had to wonder what she would turn out when that inflated belly of her finally gave away.

"Maybe that's the point of me dodging?" Hebi remarked dryly.

"Anyway," Karin snarled, settling her glasses properly and sitting back down with a huff. "I'm doing as asked. How did you get inside Konoha to begin with?"

"Sabiru-san got me through. They've asked him to reinforce the defences of Konoha, so he carefully poked holes to let spies in."

"That stupid man?" Karin grumbled, "Orochimaru-sama could have asked me to do it."

"In that state?" Hebi deadpanned, "Who the hell did you eat anyway?"

"No one," Karin retorted. "I just did as Orochimaru-sama ordered."

"Anyway," Hebi slid backwards, attaching herself to a wall, "See you later…fat cow."

"You bas—"

Hebi ignored the rest of the girl's taunts, and then slowly began to make her way quietly through the walls of the apartment complex. Naruto Uzumaki's own room was empty of everything valuable, but at the same time remained closed because of 'sentimentality'.

She snorted at the thought as she safely landed inside the empty room. The moment the sun would set, she'd proceed with her mission. Pulling Sunagakure into the war wouldn't be a problem. Especially if 'the enemy' as Orochimaru-sama said would pull the country itself into a bad position.

Really…it was so _eerie_ how Orochimaru-sama knew just about everything that was supposed to happen.

Then again, he wasn't a legendary sannin for nothing.

Still…there had to be a limit to his 'prescience'. There had to.

**Author's notes**

**Took a while to get the chapter out. This is one of the few that still keep the 5K format for 'serious' stories. The 1K and 3K formats are actually easier to write, hence being I an extremely lazy person tend to finish those first…repeatedly.**


	56. Revealing the Final Cards

Introverted

Chapter Fifty-Six

"Very well," he clapped his hands, "You can come down now."

The three Genin assigned to him were not the crop of the crop, and they were neither the lowest of the low. They were the epitome of _average_ fused with even more average. They knew how to launch a kunai, how to disappear in the ground —it was the requisite to passing the Academy, being able to do the Iwagakure no Jutsu— and they had the basics all down.

They were also eleven, and the fact he was barely four years older than them changed little. They looked at him with the same stern gaze they'd look at a military instructor. It was sort of nerve-wracking, having three pairs of eyes stare at him with the utmost seriousness and respect —with also a healthy dose of fear.

He had no doubt the ways of the Iwagakure academy differed from those of Konoha's, and 'stern teaching' appeared to be one of those tiny _diversities_.

"Kuroishi, Akaishi and Sekkaigan, right?" he asked once more, to make sure he had their names right. The three of them nodded curtly. Whoever had given them those names had to have little fantasy. Many in Iwagakure gave names depending on the type of stones or rocks that caught their fancies, and so it was that 'Black Stone', 'Red Stone' and 'Limestone' came to be his Genin.

His _average_ run of the mill Genin, who looked at him with a worried expression etched on their faces. Kuroishi and Akaishi both had dark eyes, but while Kuroishi's hair was black and shoulder-length, Akaishi's instead stood out as ashen grey and buzz-cut short. Sekkaigan had grey eyes on the other hand, and bright green hair that descended in curls all the way to his shoulders.

That was a fun thing actually. Out of the three, the female kunoichi of the team was Akaishi, who appeared more masculine than Sekkaigan.

Albeit, if any of them spoke something more than 'Yes, sensei' or 'No, sensei', he'd actually get somewhere faster.

"So you can walk on solid surfaces. Can you walk on liquid ones?"

All three of them shook their heads while chorusing 'No, sensei'. It was somewhat creepy, as if they had wires or something attached to their limbs so that they could move mechanically in rhythm.

"You know I don't bite, right?" he asked once more, only to receive cryptic stares back. It was as if they didn't believe him when he said that. Snorting, he rolled his eyes. "Fine then, I do bite sometimes…but not little Genin."

"They said you eat your enemies alive," Kuroishi meekly said, before receiving a strong elbow blow to the stomach by Akaishi.

"No he doesn't," Akaishi hissed out as she gripped tightly on Kuroishi's shoulder. "Now apologize to sensei for believing that."

"Stop. Making. A. Scene." Sekkaigan spat out, holding on to his strained expression of seriousness.

"Are you three actually afraid of me?" Naruto blinked. Well, that was an option after all. "Ah, I see! Then how about we go and have something for lunch? I'll offer."

"He said something right? He didn't say someone," Kuroishi whispered to Akaishi.

"Shut up," Akaishi hissed, "They'll pull us back in the orphanage if he doesn't take us on as Genin, so _smile_!"

"You know I can hear you pretty well," Naruto deadpanned, watching with a bit of amusement as the three Genin straightened out the next moment.

"We're deeply sorry, Sensei!" all three of them said at the same time.

Naruto smiled, his gaze lingering over their slightly scared forms. He could see the beads of sweat slowly descending their temples as their neck hair rose. He chuckled then, watching them squirm as he took a step forward.

"Starting today we'll be Team Nine."

The three swallowed nervously.

"Team…Nine?"

"I'm the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki, better the enemy knows who they're going against if we ever cross paths with them," Naruto nodded sagely.

"But…Iwagakure's teams are rock-named," Kuroishi meekly said, only for Akaishi to slam yet another elbow in his sides.

"Shut up," the girl smiled then, "It's a beautiful name sensei! I really like it!"

"Now, now," Naruto frowned. "No hitting one another," he took another step forward and then ruffled Kuroishi's hair. The boy actually gasped before closing his eyes in fright at the gesture, only opening them for a thin crack when he realized that no, he wasn't being beheaded.

"You are all part of this team equally, and there will be no hitting one another. You will face hardships and missions together, thus it is imperative you learn to trust each other's backs and work in harmony."

"That's…nice," Akaishi murmured, "But…it's not how it works here sensei."

Naruto frowned.

"The teams are placed together depending on their ranks and advance on it. If one of us lags behind, he'll be cut off and replaced. If one of us becomes stronger, he'll replace one from another team."

The Jinchuuriki smiled. "Well, then that's not going to happen to my team! You're all stuck together, and I'll make sure you all get strong together," then he said in a lower voice, "Or I will just have to make sure they never find your bodies."

He winked as the three Genin paled, before bursting out in a fit of laughter. "Just joking guys, can't you take a little joke on the side?"

Naruto sighed as he watched the three visibly maintain their stone-faced attitude after that. To think he'd be stuck doing D-ranks for a while inside the village. Sure, the excuse was to 'acclimatize' with the villagers, but the truth was simply that the Iwagakure's shinobi kept him under strict surveillance while Oonoki tried to convince his granddaughter to follow through with the marriage.

It had been quite the…explosive meeting. It had also ended in a predictable way with the girl running away in a sulky mood.

That hadn't bothered him at all. The less he worried about the situation, the better it was.

"Let's go take our first D-rank," he said then with a bright smile. "What dangerous adventure will we face today? Washing clothes for an elderly lady? Painting a wall for a lazy man? Ah, can't you feel it in the air, the smell of boredom?"

Kuroishi tried to say something, but Akaishi elbowed him once more.

"I saw that," Naruto chided the girl. "Is it that difficult to stop hitting him?"

"Sorry, sensei," Akaishi murmured.

Sekkaigan meanwhile mouthed towards Akaishi. 'Painting? Is he…' he proceeded to twirl his index finger to the side of his head.

Akaishi shrugged. 'Better than the orphanage' she mouthed back.

"Ehi," Naruto whispered in a low voice, "I can hear you…" he murmured out in a low hiss, "Really! Talking behind your sensei's back. You, Kuro-chan!"

Kuroishi stood uptight and tense the moment Naruto called him. "Y-Yes!?"

"What's the typical D-rank in Iwagakure about?"

"Ehm, sensei I wouldn't know very well about 'typical' but…"

"We patrol a mountain range for a week, or we send relief supplies to some village cut off by the snow," Sekkaigan said crisply. "If we're lucky, we just have to check the magma tunnels are clean of remains that could clog the pipes."

"And what about the day-to-day jobs for the civilians?"

"Iwagakure is a shinobi village. For there to be someone who isn't a shinobi…wouldn't it be better if he went elsewhere to live?" Kuroishi answered, shyly holding his head low.

Naruto shrugged. "You're telling me there isn't a single civilian?"

"Well, of course there are a few," Akaishi said, "But nothing more than a handful. When the Yondaime struck in the war, he took away more than five hundred shinobi…who in turn had families or loved ones. The Tsuchikage was forced to surrender and walk on their bodies to reach the diplomatic table," the girl looked at him warily. He smiled at her, and gestured for her to continue.

"There are a lot of people who bear a grudge for that. Tsuchikage-sama began conscription immediately after the war, and whereas Konoha rested on the laurels of peace, Iwagakure clawed with its very nails out of its situation to get back to its former height of power and surpass it."

A hand clammed down gently on Akaishi's head. "Good girl, good girl," Naruto nodded sagely. "The patriotic speech was very well done. I give it a seven out of ten."

"Why not a ten?" Sekkaigan asked.

They began entering the village proper —a kilometre away from the training grounds— talking about the correct ways to bring emphasis to a speech or another.

"You!" a shrill voice rose then, interrupting Naruto's point —one he was completely inventing on the spot.

He turned and smiled brightly, opening his arms wide. "My delicate rose!"

Kurotsuchi was in her Iwagakure Chuunin armour, tightly clenching her right hand around a piece of parchment. "What is the meaning of this!?"

"Why, it's a poem of how much love I have for you!" Naruto exclaimed back, holding a hand towards his heart. "Don't you love me too, my honey puff?"

A crowd began to gather on the rooftops and the nearby streets, their gazes on the 'couple'. Small murmurs broke out, as a few females looked with a glint of mischief in their eyes at the scene.

"I'm going to kill you, one day," Kurotsuchi snarled taking a step forward.

"Not in front of the impressionable children, I hope," he held on to his plastered fake smile all the way, until she was right in front of him. Her face red with rage, her eyes narrowed down to slits, she wasn't actually the prime example of a 'delicate' woman.

"You're taking too many liberties," she hissed.

Naruto just kept his smile up and slowly moved a hand to push a lock of Kurotsuchi's hair back behind her ear, while bringing his mouth near the side of her face —in what could be a romantic way of showing affection.

"And you can do _nothing_ about it, little caged bird filled with weaknesses," his voice was low, his tone light. It still served to make Kurotsuchi's back stand ramrod straight however, as chills ran across her spine from the tone of threat in Naruto's voice. "Those with power _rule_, those without _obey_. I shall tear this world asunder and start a new one. You can follow in my shadow…or die in my fire. So," he clapped his hands on her shoulders and moved his face away from her, his eyes shining for a single instant a deep dark crimson.

"My delicate rose, could you truly not stand another moment away from me? I am truly sorry! We should have dinner later then, us two beneath the light of the moon, with candles and a picnic basket. You certainly know a most romantic spot, do you not?"

His left arm was now circling her neck, while his right moved in a semi-circular way gesturing towards the horizon. Kurotsuchi breathed in deeply.

"Yes, I do. I am busy however, so…"

"Oh, I'll talk with your grandfather about this," Naruto smiled again, "I'm sure he'll free you up right away."

Kurotsuchi could only smile back forcefully. "You're spoiling me."

"Well, I would be a horrible fiancé if I didn't at least _try_," then he cupped her chin with his right hand, and gently kissed the girl on her lips —a quick peck, nothing more. "I'll see you tonight, _dattebayo_."

He then turned to his Genin. "Now follow me, we're going to take a mission and do it on the double. I have a date with my sweetie waiting…and you can't make girls wait, you know?"

_Kurotsuchi_

She watched the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki walk away with his Genin —a bunch of stuttering brats— for a moment.. Kurotsuchi closed her eyes and took one more long breath. The piece of paper in her hand turned to shreds and burned, a gust of flames coming out of her throat to remove all evidence of its existence.

Kurotsuchi tried to hold her face tightly in control. A good shinobi always knew when to kill its heart. Yet, as she touched her lips, the only thing she wished for was to retch. She had been glad when she had heard the news of the boy's death.

Then he had popped out, from nowhere, one night. Her grandfather had ordered her without any subtle hints to make sure things went smoothly. A kunoichi did missions of _that_ type only with their personal approval. She didn't have to like it, but this was the only thing she couldn't refuse. It was for the good of Iwagakure, of its people.

Only an Uzumaki could hold the Kyuubi. She didn't know _why_, but it was the one thing her grandfather had insisted on. It was the reason the first Hokage had married an Uzumaki. It was the reason Uzushiogakure died away in the night.

In the end, everything revolved around the tailed beasts.

She jumped, letting her feet stick to the surface of a mountain, before running off towards its peak. She needed time to think away from the bustling village and far from the monster in human skin. That smile could not be 'human' to begin with. She knew the Jinchuuriki hid something.

If only she could find out what it was all about…especially before the day of the wedding.

What truly worried her was the way her grandfather seemed genuinely to like the boy. Her father remained deaf to her pleads too, but then again he had always been the wimp in the family —mother had to confess to him to begin with.

With those thoughts in mind, Kurotsuchi also thought about where to have the 'romantic' date. Maybe near the garbage disposal pits? It would be extremely romantic, she supposed.

_Ayame Ichiraku_

Her hands hurt.

Her chest hurt. Her breathing was ragged. Her hair cut and unkempt filled with lice tortured her enough, if the whips of the overseers didn't suffice. A red-haired man in a similar condition to her walked past holding a load of coal on his back. She gripped on the hemp rope again, feeling her blisters open up once more as dried blood left the place on her palms to new one.

She had bled more than once already, and the pain was nothing new.

She had to wonder why she fought on. She could just dwindle herself with hunger and die, rather than keep on working in these conditions. Deep within the belly of the mountain, she knew escape was all but possible…

Yet she still dreamed on, even though all of her dreams turned out to be lies and everything of her life was in shattered pieces.

"Move it with that cart!" a guard snarled, and she ground her teeth as she pulled. She knew the whip would come down regardless of her effort, but if she tried hard enough, then maybe it would actually make the cart move faster, and end her ordeal quickly.

The whip came down and pain blossomed on her right shoulder. She screamed as she fell on the ground clutching the spot where the rag she called cloth was now soaking the blood of yet another wound.

Her feet begged for mercy.

Her body cried out for the agony to cease…but she still stood back up, and took another step forward.

She wasn't going to fall down on the ground and die… _not until she had her revenge_.

On that man, who forced her to confess to a crime she had never done.

On that man, who did not believe her and condemned her.

On that man, who brought her to this place of hell.

Most of all, however…her hatred was directed towards the sole reason she was there.

Naruto Uzumaki…

It was his entire fault. She had been stupid to think otherwise. He had torn apart her family. He had been the reason she had been moved somewhere else than the simply civilian prison.

He…he had to die to atone for his sins.

_Sakura Haruno_

"I hate you, Ami-bitch," Sakura growled. "No one has ever been banned from the Hebi! And you managed it. It's only because the owner was a friend of my parents that we didn't end up in the Konoha Prison."

Ami didn't answer, she just nursed her cracked jaw.

"And don't look at me like that. You started it. It's only natural I would finish it by giving you the lesson you deserved."

"Sakura," Shizune chided the pink-haired Chuunin, "You broke her jaw in five points, then ripped her tongue out before her teammates could intervene."

"She's lucky I didn't eat that tongue of hers…then again, I did smash it to a pulp before they could get it back," Sakura laughed with a cute giggle. "That will teach Ami-bitch here about doing something stupid like badmouthing my love again."

"She could press charges," Shizune insisted.

"Which is why I'm here," Sakura smiled sweetly. "If she does, I'll make sure to save a special brand of poison just for her. I'm sure I can smile to the judge and get out in a couple of months. Then I just have to find her again, or wait for her…" she turned to look at Ami, "And well…random food poisoning kills even the best of us sometimes."

Shizune gazed at her apprentice with a tired stare. "You told this to me so…"

"So I'll make you an accomplice if I go through with this, Shizune-shishou!" Sakura clapped her hands after that, "And they won't let you be an eyewitness anyway…"

Ami whined pitifully.

"Now, now Ami-bitch," Sakura shook her head. "You have to understand that I'm not actually going to kill you at first. The poison will be slow acting. You'll feel cold, like being in the middle of an ice cube, and then hot as if you were being burned alive. You'll feel as if someone ripped your skin apart, and then gnawed on your bones. I'm sure that you'll commit suicide before it even starts inflaming your nerves or the poison begins to pop your eyeballs out."

The whines grew stronger.

There was a knock at the door of the hospital room.

"So listen well, Ami," Sakura whispered towards the girl. "I'm not a little girl anymore, and I don't give a damn about Sasuke. Get it straight in your head that I dislike people who call me a traitor. I do not betray, ever. Be it my village or my love, I'm never going to betray them…" her right hand clamped tightly on the girl's shoulder. "So don't you ever dare insinuate it again…"

Then she turned and smiled brightly as the Hokage and two Anbu entered.

"Sakura," Tsunade said firmly. "Would you mind following the two Anbu outside?"

"Of course not, Hokage-sama!" she cheerfully said, before waving goodbye to Ami. "See you later Ami-chan! I'm glad we solved our problems!"

Then she left, holding on to her plastic and fake smile until the Hokage left the room a few minutes later. Her arms crossed in front of her bountiful chest —she wondered what the woman had eaten to get it that big— Tsunade's gaze was firm and steely.

"She will not press charges…you are technically free to go."

"Yes!"

"This is why I'm ordering you to report immediately to the Hokage tower tomorrow morning," she thrust a scroll in Sakura's hands, "With this on."

She frowned. "I left…"

"There are two types of persons who enter Anbu. Those who are strong enough to enter it and those that the village wishes to hide away for whatever reason," Tsunade hissed close to Sakura's face. "You have become the latter."

"What if I refuse, Hokage-sama?" Sakura retorted calmly.

"Then I put you back in the Genin ranks and have you assigned a baby sitter until the day you die of old age, making sure you will never be promoted," Tsunade smiled. "And then I order a search of all things that belonged to Naruto Namikaze, and have them delivered to his last living relative."

Sakura's eyes narrowed to fissures.

"Who _dares_? Naruto was an orphan, there is no way…"

"You think I will tell you after this little show you just did?" Tsunade retorted with a snort. "Take the mask, do your missions away from the public sight, and maybe I'll tell you one day when you stop being an emotional wreck."

"What? No psychiatrist?"

"Stabbing people is therapy enough for some, and I don't think you'd actually volunteer for a mind-check, would you?"

"You can always drug and force me into one," Sakura retorted, her eyes trailing towards the two Anbu.

"Konoha has enough shinobi tied down with the war against Oto's beasts, and you've got combat practice against those to boot. I'm sending you to the land of Rice Fields. You survive, and I'll tell you who Naruto's relative is."

Sakura gripped tighter on the scroll. "I want permission to hunt Itachi Uchiha."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"I don't need an avenger."

"I don't need to risk my neck; you can always call me unfit for duty. You don't because you _need_ me."

Tsunade exhaled slowly. "When was it that the title of 'Hokage' went down the drain?"

Sakura giggled. "Can I go now, Hokage-_sama_?"

Tsunade nodded, holding a half-narrowed glare as Sakura left without hurry, as if everything was fine.

Sakura hummed to herself as she returned home, before twirling a kunai and sticking straight through the Missing-Nin profile picture of Itachi Uchiha, which stood among many other papers on his skills and techniques, which now completely covered the entire surface of her room's walls.

A bundle of clothes Naruto had left behind was on her bed, neatly piled together to form a body pillow. She stretched for a moment before opening the scroll and summoning from within it an Anbu uniform. The mask they had assigned her was Wolf, apparently.

She snorted.

She would never forget that the Hokage had sent Naruto on that mission. Eventually, after Itachi, she would have her revenge on that woman too. She was still useful for the moment however, because she needed to know who dared to claim being a 'last relative' of Naruto.

Depending on whom it was…

She'd just have to dig another tomb in the backyard.

Naruto was going to need company after all —even though his tomb was empty. "And family always sticks together, right?" she muttered, sitting on the bed and then hugging the body-pillow closer.

"Family is really important," she croaked out.

Images of blood, claws, and of teeth rending flesh buzzed through her head as she closed her eyes. Her mother's screams came to her ears pleading her to stop.

"No, no, family is important. You don't attack family," Sakura muttered pressing her face tightly against Naruto's clothes. "Please," she whimpered. "Stop torturing me like this…" her eyes were dry now, too dry to shed tears. "I didn't do it…it was brigands."

Her neck felt warm.

"It was bandits, thieves, their bodies were rotting," Sakura murmured. "Not me, not me, not me!" she screamed in the pillow, the buzzing noise in her ears growing stronger by the second.

"_Sakura? Sakura stop!"_

_**I didn't kill them. I didn't kill them. This is a bad dream.**_

_The smell of blood on the hospital floor was overpowering. The taste of flesh in her mouth felt so sweet. The weak were prey._

"_Sakura! No!"_

_Eyes glazed over in death. They dried up. They became like those of the dead fishes at the market stalls._

"_Take her in another room."_

_**I didn't kill them. I didn't.**_

_Why is your mind saying the opposite then?_

"_DAD! MOM! Please wake up!" she cried. "Please wake up!"_

"_What is real?" a male voice whispered to her ear. "What is false?" the voice asked, gently nibbling her earlobe. "I can show you, little blossom," hands gently touched her neck. "I've been waiting for this moment," the voice added. "Come…open your eyes…I'm waiting."_

Sakura's eyes shot open. It was the middle of the night, and her entire body was flush with sweat. Her breathing ragged, she threw herself off the bed and into the bathroom where she retched, holding on to the toilet seat as if it were an anchor of safety.

She shakily stood back up. Her hand went to move the hair away from her face, and as she gazed at her reflection in the mirror…

An eye, from her shoulder, blinked back at her with its accusing yellow retina.

_She screamed…_

…_but she didn't wake up._

_Kakuzu_

Deidara was a rambling psychopath, a bomb-strapped lunatic and the last person he would have wanted in his team. Since Hidan had kicked the bucket however, he was the one assigned as his replacement. He would have rather worked with Sasori —or not worked at all and gone bounty hunting— but he had a quota to meet.

The fact the three tails had suddenly appeared —and then began charging through the nations without a care in the world for what it tore along its path— hadn't buzzed him much.

His eyes narrowed as he watched the Iwagakure missing-nin bomb the creature from up high, avoiding the concentrated jets of water and the coral formations that the Bijuu generated. The shell of the tortoise-like beast was hard to crack, but Deidara did an excellent job in tiring it out.

"Ohi Zombie-Guy! It's your turn now!" Deidara screamed from high above his clay bird, as Kakuzu growled. He'd kill the man, if not for the fact the resulting explosion would probably get him too.

He flexed his fingers in familiar hand seals, and then he waited. The ground began to tremble and shake, before giant roots erupted from the dirt and tied down on the three tails' body. Branches sprouted leaves as the Mokuton began to seep at the chakra of the Bijuu, weakening it.

"This is actually too easy, it lacks explosion," Deidara grumbled. "How can you call this a work of art?"

"Shut up," Kakuzu retorted sharply. "Just get on with the job!"

Deidara huffed, before jumping down from his flying explosive clay bird.

Twirling in mid-air, the Iwagakure ex-ninja brought his right hand up with both middle finger and index, before hissing out.

"_KATSU_!"

The bird dived down, its size increasing drastically. The next instant, a humongous explosion scorched the air as the Three-Tails screamed in agony, its shell cracked open.

Kakuzu hardened his skin before the pressure reached him, closing his eyes as it harmlessly passed him by.

**You, who wield one of father's powers, don't understand.**

Kakuzu's eyes widened. He looked around for a brief moment, but the owner of the voice seemed…

**Ignorant fool, toying with things beyond your comprehension. **

Could it be the three tails?

**Greed is your quest, is it not?** The beast chuckled. It chuckled and its eyes gazed at him with something akin to understanding. **It is something I can relate to.**

Kakuzu did not reply, but with a pulse of chakra, he tightened the shackles of Mokuton around the tailed beast.

**It is useless. I speak to your very soul. I am Greed, and you…you will do, I suppose.**

The Takigakure missing-nin narrowed his eyes, before in front of him he watched the three tails _explode_. A wave of pure teal chakra erupted from the entire body of the beast, twisting in mid-air before crashing down in front of him.

Kakuzu's hands went up to protect his face as waves of water poured all around him. He jumped up, making a hand-seal to stand on a wooden platform, when a concentrated ray of water sliced through it and sent him back in the bubbling liquid.

Spinning his body, he unleashed a wave of rock the moment his right hand touched the ground. A hand formed with chakra pierced through the water around him, slamming into his chest as seals and ink slowly traced over his body.

"My name is Isobu," the chakra spoke as it poured into him, into his every pore. "I am the Greed that all needs and all desires. Together, we shall acquire all that is possible," a second hand slammed into him, soon followed by a body appearing from the waves.

It seemed human, even though it was not.

"What are you doing?" Kakuzu hissed out, trying to grab at the chakra to no avail. He could but watch as the chakra mass merged with him.

_**This isn't enough.**_

_**I want more.**_

_**Rob that woman!**_

_**I'll conquer them!**_

_**Kill them all and loot their corpses!**_

_**Nice pendant, now it's mine.**_

_**She's coming with me! She's mine!**_

_**This is my food, go find yours!**_

**How does it feel?**

The voice was raucous as it came from within his very head. His five hearts thrummed at the same time, forcing Kakuzu down on his knees from the sheer agony that covered his entire body.

**You are lucky to have five hearts. A lesser man would have died.**

"Get. Out. Of. My. Body!" Kakuzu snarled.

**It is mine, now.**

"No, it's mine!" he snarled, punching the ground as the water dropped down lifelessly.

"Ohi! What happened to the Three-Tails!? Did he make a run for it?" Deidara's unnerving voice reached his ears, as the blond haired man neared.

"Get. Out," Kakuzu hissed. "Out. Out. Leave my body! Now!"

"Ehi, you all right Zombie-guy?"

**You do not command me.**

Isobu's chakra slowly began to push out of Kakuzu's body, like flames licking his flesh they moved.

"You've gone deaf with age, Zombie-chan?"

The Takigakure ex-ninja turned his murderous gaze towards Deidara, before throwing a punch at the idiot's face. The punch connected squarely with the man's face, caving in the skull and shattering the bones. Blood sprayed out from the beheaded corpse of Deidara, who fell on the ground limp. Kakuzu exhaled, and then inhaled.

The corpse glowed of a bright light, before detonating with a tremendous force. Kakuzu shielded his face with his arms, as corals formed all over his body and flesh.

The resulting explosion tore apart the landscape, leaving behind a giant hole in the ground the size of a small water basin. Exhaling, Kakuzu's eyes opened to him standing atop a giant coral spire, in the middle of the otherwise destroyed area.

**Let us cooperate, for the moment.**

"Why?"

**The hunter now becomes the hunted! Your Pain wishes to conquer the world, his greed is second only to his blindness…and I need a body to avoid the Statue…your body will do. **

"So you're a bastard," Kakuzu snarled, opening his right hand as corals began to emerge from it. "What do you want?"

**There is someone I need to reach, someone I wish to test.**

Kakuzu's eyes closed as an image flashed briefly in his eyes.

"I don't trust you."

**I don't need to be trusted. Will you cooperate, or must I tear apart your hearts from the inside?**

"I'm taking your power as payment," Kakuzu growled. He took a step forward as a coral bridge formed to guide him beyond the crevice formed by Deidara's explosion.

**The Iwagakure shinobi is still alive.**

"Let him go," Kakuzu said, eying the horizon. "We have somewhere else to be, don't we?"

Then he jumped, leaving behind the devastated area as he made his way towards the west, beyond Konoha, beyond the Fire Country…and towards Rock Country.

"Let us see how much you've grown," Kakuzu whispered, "Naruto Namikaze."

_Sasori_

The smell of resin, of wood, of fire…the smell of oil and the ingredients for his poisons, and then…another smell in the mix, a foreign one, one that did not belong to his own. He quietly advanced, holding his fingers ready on his chakra strings.

"It is a nice place you have here, Sasori," the voice spoke slowly, taking care to enunciate each word one after the other. "A nice hidden spot, but you always had some problems hiding from me, did you not?"

Sasori's eyes narrowed.

Tobi stood in the middle of his workshop, his mask showing only one of his eyes, the crimson sharingan.

"The army is not ready yet," Sasori remarked. "It still needs time."

"Would you tell the same to Orochimaru, perhaps?" Tobi asked, his voice filled with an underlying tone he did not like at all.

"What are you implying?"

"Nothing," Tobi shook his head, "But someone is missing from home, and I would very much have him back. He has the Box after all."

"Kabuto went rogue?" Sasori asked. "He actually was a spy?"

"He always was," Tobi shrugged. "I just hoped he was yours rather than his," the cloaked man looked to the ceiling. "Orochimaru betrayed Akatsuki…I am here for the army, to bring it to the boss."

"It isn't ready," Sasori remarked. "It needs to be completed."

"Then complete it!" Tobi snarled. "What do you miss?"

Sasori snorted, before walking forward and pointing his gaze towards an empty mannequin. "The boy, Temujin…he refuses to continue extracting the Gelel from the stone unless he can attest the safety of the children from his land."

"Can't you brainwash him and be done with his temper tantrum?" Tobi replied, tapping his right foot on the ground.

"The Gelel interferes with chakra techniques," Sasori grumbled as he stepped next to a desk littered with parts of puppets. "I could remove the stone he has in his body, but then the entire castle of cards would crumble down."

"Fine then," Tobi said. "Bring the boy here. I'll show him where the children are."

"Try and keep him safe, Tobi," Sasori mumbled. "You wouldn't want to fail Leader-Sama right now that we're so close to victory, would you?"

"Close to victory?" Tobi chuckled. "Last I checked we are still missing Tailed Beasts."

"All is proceeding according to plan," Sasori nodded sagely.

Tobi inwardly smiled. Of course, everything was proceeding according to his plan. He wasn't Orochimaru of the Sannin for no reason, after all.

_Danzo Shimura_

He was alive.

That simple line of thought cracked through his decades of repressing emotions, and as a broken dam explodes in fragments, so too did his composure disappear as a low and throaty chuckle escaped his dried lips.

He was alive.

The Yami of Shinobi was alive.

Someone was feeding him soup apparently, and he was still _alive_.

"He's waking up," a male voice said.

"Really?" the female voice that came next was…happy, he supposed.

Where was he? What had happened to the Zero-Tails? Who was the man? He tried to open his eyes, blearily taking in a shack and two figures.

One was Amaru, but the other…

Was that man's skin _blue_?

"You're lucky I was nearby," the man stated plainly, "If Samehada hadn't been whining about strange chakra, I wouldn't have found either of you."

He tried to put the man into focus, but he failed and thus, he closed his eyes once more.

"Don't worry," the man said to the fussing Amaru. "He'll wake up when he rests a bit more."

"Ah…I hope so, Kisame-san."

To those words, Danzo Shimura fell asleep.

It was not a restful slumber at all.

**Author's notes**

**Deidara. Kisame. Missed them?**

**Ayame…ah, there she is.**

**Rain completely skewers my left wrist, and its agony is excruciating. I'm writing through blood and tears here gents, through blood and tears.**


End file.
